School of Education

In March, Tore Bernt Sorensen (Lecturer, School of Education) took part in the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) hosted in Tallinn, Estonia, in the role as Rapporteur. This role entails that he attended the summit and afterwards prepared a report summarising key themes, take-aways, and interventions from participants in the different sessions. The Final Report from the summit is now published on the ISTP 2026 website.

 

ISTP 2026 was the 16th ISTP since the inception of the summit series in 2011. Co-organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the global federation of teacher unions Education International, and a host country (this year Estonia), the ISTP is a unique global forum where education ministers and teacher union leaders meet on an equal basis to discuss key issues and future needs of the teaching profession. 

 

This year’s summit involved delegations from 17 countries. In addition, 4 countries took part in the summit as Special Observers. 

 

While teacher policy issues continue to provide the central point of reference for the ISTP series, the sessions often lead to broader debates on educational and societal change. This was also the case at this year’s summit. The main theme for ISTP 2026 was "Switching gears: Teachers and Learners in the Future Learning Environment”, with three sub-themes: The Evolving Teaching Profession, Autonomy of Educators and School Leadership, and Artificial Intelligence and Educational Technology.