Open Learning Manager Philippa Davies explores how the British Council’s TeachingEnglish free open learning resources for teachers and teacher educators help contribute to an ecosystem that supports lifelong learning and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education.
The UNESCO 2024 Global Report on Teachers issues a clear and urgent message: the world is facing a growing teacher crisis. Without immediate intervention, we risk seeing millions more children – particularly in lower-income countries – left without qualified educators. The report predicts increased teacher shortages, rising class sizes and deepening inequality in access to quality education. In the face of this challenge, the call to action is unmistakable.
Among its six key recommendations, UNESCO urges a fundamental rethink of how we support teachers throughout their careers. It calls for professional development to be more collaborative, teacher-led and lifelong – moving beyond the traditional individualised, course-based models that are often disconnected from teachers’ realities and offer limited opportunities for contextual application or peer learning. However, this is not a rejection of all course-based learning, but rather a call to reimagine it. The challenge is to move away from rigid, prescriptive formats and towards professional development ‘ecosystems’ that are responsive, reflective and embedded in communities of practice.
Responding through open access resources: TeachingEnglish
The British Council’s TeachingEnglish open learning programme is a global initiative offering free, open-access professional development resources and content for English teachers and teacher educators. Our free TeachingEnglish resources include massive online open courses (MOOCs), lesson plans, resource books, podcasts, and live and recorded digital events for peer sharing and collaboration. All of this is underpinned by opportunities to engage in vibrant communities of practice using popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram , and YouTube.
Avoiding the shortcomings of traditional training outlined by UNESCO, these open learning resources are designed to support teacher autonomy, encourage collaborative reflection and respond to diverse educational contexts. With embedded reflective activities, access to global communities of practice and flexible, self-directed learning pathways, TeachingEnglish resources offer a powerful example of the professional development ecosystems that UNESCO envisions – ones that empower teachers, strengthen educational systems and contribute directly to Sustainable Development Goal 4: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.
What makes an effective professional development ecosystem?
UNESCO describes professional development as an ‘ecosystem’. Just like successful ecosystems, effective professional development thrives through interdependence, adaptability and diversity. The mission of the British Council’s TeachingEnglish is closely aligned with UNESCO’s vision, and the British Council has recently been accepted into the International Teacher Task Force, hosted by UNESCO, alongside more than 190 member organisations. The sections below explore how UNESCO’s vision of professional development as an ecosystem is reflected in TeachingEnglish’s open learning resources.
Autonomy: Empowering teacher agency
In a flourishing ecosystem, each organism acts independently to meet its needs while contributing to the health and stability of the whole. In the same way, autonomy is a vital component of an effective professional development model. Autonomous teachers who have the freedom and support to guide their own learning are more motivated, more adaptive and better equipped to respond to the unique challenges of their contexts.
UNESCO reinforces this view by highlighting how ongoing learning opportunities increase teacher motivation and well-being. TeachingEnglish resources are designed to nurture that sense of autonomy. Teachers can begin by identifying their own development needs using the British Council’s 2025 Continuing Professional Development Framework for teachers, which helps them determine not only what professional practices to focus on but also where they currently stand within those practices. From there, teachers can select from three different learning pathways for each professional practice, tailored to their experience level and whether they're learning independently or with others. They can then choose from a wide range of resources that span different areas of focus – from introductory content such as short articles or videos, to more in-depth content like training courses. This learner-directed approach promotes ownership, fosters self-efficacy, and leads to more sustained professional growth. In this sense, autonomy in a continuing professional development ecosystem doesn’t equate to isolation; rather, it allows for self-directed action within a supportive and interconnected framework.
Diversity: Meeting the needs of every context
A healthy ecosystem also relies on diversity – a principle equally essential to effective professional development. No two teachers, classrooms or learners are the same, and so professional development must reflect this complexity by offering content that’s inclusive and varied. This can come both through processes – the way in which the resources are developed and who is represented; and product – the resources themselves. TeachingEnglish aims to do both.
Webinar speakers are selected via an open global call-out that recognises teachers as expert practitioners, rewards marginalised speakers sharing lived experience and supports talented first-time speakers from geographically diverse contexts through mentoring. Requesting input and feedback on resources means that TeachingEnglish can also meet the needs of diverse contexts – for example, when developing lesson plans on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), the process was intentionally iterative, bringing in perspectives from different stakeholders at different stages. Teachers from 14 countries piloted the materials and gave feedback that shaped the final lesson plan materials.
In terms of diverse and inclusive content, UNESCO’s report identifies significant gaps in current continuing professional development offerings, particularly in areas like digital inclusion, climate education, and support for learners from diverse backgrounds. The TeachingEnglish programme addresses these shortcomings head-on. Resources and events tackle global priorities directly, such as webinar events like AI for inclusion and resources like Climate action in language education: Activities for low-resource contexts. These offerings align closely with UNESCO’s vision of a more humane and socially cohesive education system, one that equips teachers to foster inclusion, address the effects of climate change, and support learners facing displacement or trauma.
Resilience: Supporting teachers through change
Equally vital is resilience – the capacity to adapt and grow through change. In ecosystems, resilience allows organisms to survive shifting conditions; for teachers, resilience is the key to remaining effective amid evolving demands. Teachers today must navigate rapidly changing curricula, integrate new technologies, respond to increasingly diverse classrooms, and often do so with limited support. In crisis contexts, where teachers may themselves be displaced or facing trauma, professional development becomes not just a tool for learning but can act as one source of stability and hope. UNESCO stresses the emotional and psychological pressures many teachers experience, especially those working in conflict-affected or low-resource environments. Resources which offer trauma-informed strategies and practical solutions for teaching in challenging conditions are particularly valuable in this regard.
TeachingEnglish offers a range of such resources, like the open learning course Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners, a handbook for teachers of refugees and live events with speakers with experience supporting learners in difficult circumstances. In this way, professional development becomes a lifeline, sustaining not just professional competence but emotional well-being and purpose.
Responsiveness: Reflective and context-sensitive learning
A responsive ecosystem reacts and adapts to its environment, and so too must professional development respond to teachers’ lived realities. UNESCO underscores the importance of active engagement in continuing professional development that is participatory and contextualised. TeachingEnglish resources are designed with these principles at their core. By actively engaging its global community of teachers through intentional feedback, reflection and knowledge sharing, TeachingEnglish can create content that is responsive and tailored to the diverse and complex needs of educators across different contexts. This responsive approach to engagement is also embedded within the resources themselves – teachers are encouraged to adapt content and reflect on what they’re learning and set their own goals through resources such as the workbooks available for each open learning course. These tools make professional learning dynamic rather than static, driven by inquiry, responsive to local needs, and grounded in personal experience.
Progression: Sustaining growth in lower resource contexts
Progress and growth are also fundamental. Just as energy in an ecosystem drives development, new research, ideas, and knowledge fuel teacher growth. Unfortunately, as UNESCO notes, teachers in many low-income countries lack access to robust professional development opportunities due to limited education budgets. In this context, open-access learning becomes not only a supplement but a necessity. TeachingEnglish helps fill this gap by offering free certification after successful completion of its courses and webinar attendance. These certificates serve not only as a record of achievement but also as a symbol of validation, particularly for teachers working in isolated or under-resourced settings where formal opportunities for advancement may be few. Through repeated cycles of learning, applying, and reflecting, teachers are able to grow professionally, even in contexts where formal development pathways are limited or non-existent.
Collaboration: Building global communities of practices (CoPs)
No ecosystem functions in isolation. Organisms survive and thrive through interaction, cooperation, and interdependence. Collaboration is equally critical in education. UNESCO emphasises that teacher development must shift from individual, course-based models to a more collective, teacher-led and cooperative process. TeachingEnglish fosters global collaboration through various open-access spaces, such as the Teacher Community Facebook group, where teachers can seek and offer each other support, asking questions on the topics they choose. Another space – the Courses for teachers Facebook community of practice supporting teachers following the open learning training courses – brings together over 95,000 teachers from around the world. Both spaces allow educators to support each other, share ideas, and innovate across borders and cultures. For many teachers, particularly those working in remote or underserved regions, TeachingEnglish communities represent a vital connection to a global professional network.
One Ukrainian teacher shared how connecting with others helped them find new strategies for supporting displaced learners: “I found it vital to connect with others who understand the challenges we face. For example, I saw even more strategies for supporting displaced learners, which gave me practical ideas I could implement right away in my classroom. It felt reassuring to be part of a community that truly cares about our students' well-being and shares resources and support.”
This reinforces the idea that change in education cannot happen in isolation. Structural challenges – such as the global teacher shortage – require structural responses, and collaborative, cross-cultural learning is one essential part of the solution.
Sustainability: Ensuring long-term impact
For a professional development ecosystem to be effective, it must be sustainable. This means more than just longevity; it involves continuous feedback, adaptability and relevance. TeachingEnglish maintains this sustainability through regular evaluation, incorporating feedback from participants and staying aligned with global trends in education. For example, the What’s changed in English Language Teaching? (2024) report, from the British Council outlines a growth in plurilingual practices, continued importance of inclusive practices, and assessment for learning as central to recent developments: all topics dealt with explicitly. Ongoing quality monitoring ensures that what teachers learn remains useful, current and applicable to their changing realities. As UNESCO notes, teacher well-being and retention are influenced by the ongoing quality and relevance of their professional learning opportunities. Sustained support, meaningful engagement, and real-world relevance are the building blocks of a system that nurtures long-term growth and resilience.
Open learning as ecosystem nutrition
Amid a global teacher crisis, TeachingEnglish open learning resources act as vital nutrients – feeding a grassroots professional development community and enriching the professional development ecosystem. By connecting teachers across different regions, supporting context-sensitive learning and offering professional growth opportunities where they’re often most lacking, they help build the kind of sustainable, responsive, and inclusive professional development ecosystem that UNESCO calls for. Like all ecosystems, the health of the whole depends on the nourishment of its individual parts. TeachingEnglish helps provide that nourishment – supporting the teachers who, in turn, support learners everywhere.