The teacher is the main catalyst for successful learning by confident learners. Understanding the challenges teachers face as well as teacher capacities, roles and responsibilities is key to developing and supporting an effective teaching force in our country. We believe that a focus on teacher development, both pre-service and in-service, is essential for long term impact on the system.

BRIDGE’s membership includes significant numbers of practising teachers who use our forums to reflect on practice, to learn from each other and to share solutions. An important forum for discussion on issues that directly affect teachers is the Teacher Upfront dialogue series. In addition, the South African Extraordinary Schools Coalition holds in-depth workshops on strategies, tools and techniques to improve classroom practices. These resources are shared with others through BRIDGE’s platforms. Because of its pivotal nature, teacher development also tends to come up as a cross-cutting theme in all BRIDGE Communities of Practice.