{"id":97449,"date":"2026-04-16T11:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/?p=97449"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:03:11","slug":"kix-lac-moves-forward-together-with-seven-countries-on-a-regional-initiative-to-establish-a-coalition-of-initial-teacher-education-institutions-grounded-in-collaboration-and-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/news\/kix\/kix-lac-moves-forward-together-with-seven-countries-on-a-regional-initiative-to-establish-a-coalition-of-initial-teacher-education-institutions-grounded-in-collaboration-and-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"KIX LAC moves forward, together with seven countries, on a regional initiative to establish a coalition of initial teacher education institutions grounded in collaboration and evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Knowledge and Innovation Exchange Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (KIX LAC)<\/strong>, an initiative supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)<\/strong> and Canada\u2019s International Development Research Centre (IDRC)<\/strong>, and regionally led by SUMMA and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)<\/strong>, held its first collaborative working session with a group of experts to advance the establishment of a Coalition for Initial Teacher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting, held on March 26, 2026, brought together representatives from teacher education institutions in Dominica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia<\/strong>, and also included the participation of the University of the West Indies (Barbados)<\/strong>, to begin outlining a shared work agenda.<\/p>\n

At SUMMA and the KIX LAC Hub, the teaching profession has been approached from a systemic and evidence-informed perspective, integrating public policy, teacher education, support systems, and pedagogical practices, especially in contexts of high inequality and vulnerability. An important precursor to this project is the work led by SUMMA together with the University of the West Indies<\/a> since 2021 to strengthen initial teacher education in the Eastern Caribbean. This project has sought to address challenges such as gaps in pedagogical competencies, curriculum renewal, and the use of evidence in teacher education. Its achievements include developing the new Primary ADE curriculum, adopting roadmaps for its implementation, launching training for teacher educators, and opening new opportunities for regional collaboration.<\/p>\n

The Coalition, currently in the process of being established, seeks to bring together teacher education institutions and key stakeholders across Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen the quality of initial teacher education in the region<\/strong>. Its relevance lies in its potential to identify shared challenges, mobilize knowledge, disseminate good practices, and generate evidence-based resources and recommendations that can help improve policies and practices in this field. During the KIX LAC Regional Meeting 2025<\/a>, held in Guatemala, this initiative was launched<\/a> as an important step toward continuing to enrich regional dialogue and action on initial teacher education.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Presentation of the Initial Teacher Education Coalition initiative during the KIX LAC Regional Meeting 2025 in Guatemala. In the photo, Laurette Bristol, Director of the School of Education at the University of the West Indies, and Ra\u00fal Chac\u00f3n, Director of KIX LAC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of this project, the KIX LAC Hub has developed a foundational document on the state of initial teacher education<\/strong>, structured in three main sections: 1) global overview, 2) regional overview, and 3) national overview (KIX LAC countries). Before the meeting, participants were shared the preliminary version of the first section, Global Overview of Initial Teacher Education, which included a review of the main challenges and contemporary debates in the field, including issues such as teaching practicum, inclusive pedagogies, research skills, technology integration, and digital literacy. Overall, the expert group welcomed the work carried out and the issues addressed in this first section of the document, which served as a basis for discussion and made it possible to gather comments, needs, and priorities from both national and regional perspectives. Participants exchanged views on structural challenges and on how regional collaboration could help address them more effectively than isolated efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Representatives from six KIX LAC member countries<\/strong> participated in the meeting\u2014three from Central America and three from the Eastern Caribbean\u2014including Jorge Escobar, from the Universidad Pedag\u00f3gica de El Salvador; Jackeline Marroqu\u00edn, from Universidad Mariano G\u00e1lvez de Guatemala; Hern\u00e1n Mont\u00fafar, from Universidad Pedag\u00f3gica Nacional Francisco Moraz\u00e1n of Honduras; Mervyn Dailey, from Dominica State College; Vicky Charles, from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in Saint Lucia; and Marise Butler and Ann Dopwell, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College<\/strong>. Laurette Bristol<\/strong> also took part in the meeting. She is Director of the School of Education at the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus, Barbados)<\/strong> and one of the key leaders who has been advancing this project together with the KIX LAC Hub.<\/p>\n

The interventions reflected shared concerns, but also very specific national realities. From Honduras<\/strong>, Hern\u00e1n Mont\u00fafar highlighted the social devaluation of the teaching profession, the reduced ability to attract the strongest candidates, and the need to better connect initial teacher education with continuing professional development and the teaching career pathway. From Barbados<\/strong>, Laurette Bristol drew attention to another structural challenge: funding constraints, the difficulty of retaining better-qualified teachers, and the importance of discussing stronger recruitment criteria as well as strengthening the preparation of those who train future teachers.<\/p>\n

The conversation also highlighted practice-related challenges. From Guatemala<\/strong>, Jackeline Marroqu\u00edn noted that interest in pursuing teaching has declined in recent years and stressed the need to strengthen support for teaching practicum, as well as to better prepare students for complex contexts shaped by rural settings, multigrade classrooms, and unfavorable working conditions. Along the same lines, Jorge Escobar, from El Salvador<\/strong>, underscored the importance of narrowing the gap between theory and practice in teacher education. In turn, from Dominica<\/strong>, Mervyn Dailey pointed out that gaps in infrastructure and digital resources remain a concrete obstacle to teaching and learning.<\/p>\n

Despite the diversity of contexts, the exchange revealed several areas of convergence. Among them were the need to share good practices, research, and experiences related to curriculum development and teaching models that can serve as references across countries. In this context, the emerging coalition is shaping up as a useful space for peer learning, systematizing experiences, and building more coordinated responses to shared regional challenges.<\/p>\n

Finally, the next steps<\/strong> in the process were shared, including the development of a consensus-based roadmap for how the Coalition will operate, a public awareness and dissemination campaign, and the coordination of a future meeting with the Network of Deans of Education from Latin American Universities (REDECANEDU).<\/p>\n

With this first session, the KIX LAC Hub took another step forward in its regional articulation work, connecting experiences and promoting exchange across countries to address shared education challenges through evidence. In this way, the meeting laid the groundwork for a collaborative effort to strengthen initial teacher education in Latin America and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Knowledge and Innovation Exchange Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (KIX LAC), an initiative supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Canada\u2019s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and regionally led by SUMMA and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), held its first collaborative working session with a group of experts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":97157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kix","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97449"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97507,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97449\/revisions\/97507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summaedu.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}