Innovations in Online Teacher Professional Development in Latin America

Public-private-academia collaborations present ingenious solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America. This chapter explores the potential of these collaborations in supporting the goals – particularly SDG 4 – and supplying qualified public school teachers in Ecuador. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to train and equip teachers with innovative tools and methods for their work. To improve practices and provide knowledge to teachers, the Ministry of Education in Ecuador established cooperation processes with higher education institutions and other entities so that public school teachers’ preparation could be strengthened through virtual platforms. A Laboratory of Innovative Models of Teacher Professional Development in the context of the pandemic was established to strengthen online teacher professional development in Ecuador through the interinstitutional work of the Ministry of Education, a Chilean NGO, and a private liberal arts university. The first pilot activity of this collaboration included the implementation of two online professional development courses for teacher tutors that included both mentoring and coaching elements. Lessons learned around this collaboration included the importance of connectivity, promoting teacher participation, allowing teachers to be part of the design process, ensuring that teachers are technologically savvy, providing adequate technical support, giving follow-up and timely feedback to teachers, and encouraging professional learning communities, among others. These lessons can be applied in broader and future professional development processes and collaborations in Ecuador and Latin America.