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Improving learning outcomes for girls requires gender-sensitive, participatory, and context-driven solutions. In this commentary, we reflect on the results of a recent baseline analysis conducted for our latest pilot intervention under the Building Learning Foundations Programme – the launch of girls’ clubs in Rwanda.

The impact of our work is critical to all we do at Education Development Trust. In this review, the third of our Annual Impact Reviews, we present the ways in which our work has made a positive difference to learners, teachers, leaders and education systems around the world, and how in another exceptional year, we have strived to further our mission to improve lives by transforming education worldwide.

The links between education, gender and climate change have been the subject of growing attention in recent months, but must be viewed with attention to nuance. In this commentary, we reflect on these connections and the related discussions from the 2021 WISE Summit, where we hosted a panel session on these important issues.

In recent years there’s been a shift in how we nurture teachers at the beginning of their career journeys, so how has a ‘golden thread’ approach to training Early Career Teachers helped solve the teacher retention equation?

The need to improve the quality of learning outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged students, is the greatest challenge facing education policymakers around the world – and improved teaching quality is perhaps the biggest driver for improving learning outcomes. In this report, we reflect on the practical steps that have been taken in England to improve teacher professionalism, but we believe that the insights this example provides will have a resonance and relevance for policymakers and education leaders in many other countries across the world.

The Connected Learning Centre (CLC), part of Education Development Trust, supports schools and other settings in using digital technologies creatively and critically. Importantly, it makes technology accessible to girls through the use of gender-responsive pedagogy– and engages teachers, leaders, parents and communities to do the same.

We discuss the shifting paradigm in professional development, a growing need to formalise comms strategies between head teachers & parents/guardians, and how ‘Leaders of Learning’ in Rwanda are collaboratively upskilling fellow educators in their local area.

Our approach to improving outcomes for girls through better quality pedagogy is based on a rigorous and holistic understanding of what it takes to change the behaviour of all actors in schools and across local and national systems. This includes leaders, teachers and learners – we call it ‘Good quality pedagogy for learning and equity.’ In this commentary, we discuss the key aspects of our approach to this critical issue for improving learning for all girls and boys across the world.

Our Building Learning Foundations (BLF) programme is taking a system-wide approach to improving girls’ and boys’ learning in Rwanda, tackling inequality through teacher development, school leadership, system strengthening, inclusive education and safeguarding. This also involves addressing gendered inequalities within the education system. In this case study, we focus on the elements of the BLF programme that specifically aim to improve gender equity in learning and enhance female leadership for learning.

Teachers are among the most critical actors in ensuring meaningful change in education systems around the world and ensuring their buy-in to gender-responsive pedagogy and the importance of educating girls will be crucial to achieving gender equity in education. In this commentary, we draw on our recent research project with the British Council to explore teachers’ and school leaders’ attitudes to girls’ education in Nigeria, as well as examples of promising practice.