Structurally improving educational quality

Through a value based systemic change approach

Education is very powerful and a key factor for change. For many years, Woord en Daad is contributing to access to quality education world wide, but after years of building experience in the Education sector in various countries, we saw that we also had to act on a higher level to improve the quality of education in a more sustainable, systemic way. That’s why Woord en Daad and Driestar University started a worldwide movement: INCE (International Network for Christian Education).

31,190 teachers and principals are trained at the end of 2021

1,000 schools offer quality Christian education

in 6 countries

in collaboration with more than 25 partners

Our vision on system change

Worldwide more and more children go to school. That is a positive result of changed policies, more investments in education and the hard work of partner organizations worldwide. However, in many countries the quality of education is still very poor. We acknowledge that our activities with partners cannot simply bring solutions to poor people, but rather require that we influence ‘systems’. Herewith we aim to affect the situations of poverty more sustainably and transformational in which much more stakeholders play a role. That’s why INCE focuses on systemic change in the education sector, on regional or national level, of the countries we work in.

Our vision on system change interventions can be described by the following characteristics:

Towards influencing strategies

The intervention design methodology includes an adequate systems mapping, actor mapping and identification of key leverage points. Strategies can be defined on intervention areas where optimal changes can be effected for target groups (the ‘levers’). This implies working with actors that can optimally influence or disrupt system behavior (innovation capacity). Strategies are adjusted along with sharply monitored changes in the context, including unexpected non-linear effects. The role of our interventions moves towards influencing systems, rather than only working on preset outcomes.

From projects to partnerships

Long-term commitments to broad partnerships become of primary importance, while projects contribute to the higher ambitions of the partnerships. Partnerships focus on enabling conditions for poorest people groups, and work on boundary conditions of the education system: for example level and quality of private services, capacity of institutions, enforcement of enabling policies etc. Within the partnerships, key relationships with system influencers will be sought, including highlevel government. The partnerships will be the environment to advocate for political will and initiate scaling strategies (of smaller pilot outcomes).

Adopting adaptive programming

The desired change in the educational system becomes the defining principle for implementation, not the pre-defined strategy. This asks for new ways of project management (navigation), and connected to that, new ways of funding. Strategic leadership in consortia becomes increasingly important to keep all collaboration partners aligned. Connected with is an expanded role towards data. We will contribute to managing implementation by keeping a strong knowledge-base on country-specific education sectors, and take a proactive role in data analysis and data sharing to support the partnerships we work in.

Cooperating on sector data

Broader sector data start playing a leading role beside the data flowing from monitoring progress based on pre-defined outputs and outcomes. We aim to expand the use and combination of untapped data sources (e.g. administrative data, but also SDG data) and deliberately cooperate with others for relevant sector data. We manage data as a partnership, so that stakeholders can use the data for steering information.

Aims and areas

It’s our dream to transform the lives of millions of youth worldwide and inspire them to develop themselves, take responsibility and participate in society as accountable citizens. We believe that education is a key factor in real change for the good of individual human beings. To make this dream come true, we have a strong vision for INCE.

We focus on five result areas to improve quality education:

Quality learning facilitators

Learning facilitators are responsible for developing and providing education (including teachers, school management and Teacher Training Institutes). They should be well trained, professionally qualified and motivated.

Future proof learning content

A curriculum should reflect three different functions in order to be future proof and relevant: learning to know and do, learning to live together and learning to be.

Stimulating learning content

A quality school has a safe physical environment, is inclusive, is part of an engaged community, collects data, has a clear vision and mission and is in close contact with actors in the educational sector.

Collaborative engagement

Sector wide improvement of quality education consists of strong networks, active commitment, engagement and collaboration with key actors in the educational sector.

Regulating and supportive government policy

Quality education is regulated and supported by government policies, through an active connection between actors in the educational sector and the government.

These five result areas define the broad system of the education sector. Results in these areas will lead to quality education in the education sector. In order to truly work on broad, sustainable improvement, INCE implements interventions in each of these five result areas in a balanced way.

Every year, 30,000 teachers can start a training to improve their teaching quality. Ultimately, our dream is to serve the entire public sector with value based education.

Ministry of Education, Guatemala

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Woord en Daad
Postbus 560
4200 AN Gorinchem
The Netherlands

+31 183 – 61 18 00
info@woordendaad.nl

INCE

Structurally improving educational quality

Our vision on system change

Aims and areas

Ministry of Education, Guatemala

News

INCE Guatemala: Big step towards systemic change

Guatemala: making adjustments towards a virtual education setting

How can teachers integrate biblical values in a government curriculum?

Sierra Leone: working on local INCE partnerships

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