Since 2018 The Open University’s Institute of Educational Technology (IET) has hosted Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships for citizens of low- and middle-income Commonwealth countries to study IET’s Masters programme, fully funded. Pakistan-based Munir Moosa Sewani was in the first cohort of Commonwealth Scholars, commencing his study of IET’s Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) in 2018. Since then Munir has led numerous initiatives in his home country, and beyond, intended to support social justice and educational equity, drawing on the knowledge and skills he gained from studying the MAODE.
In March 2023 Munir was awarded The British Council’s UK Alumni Award for Pakistan in the Social Action Category as recognition for his socioecoethical model of human rights education in addition to Munir’s leadership of the Global Forum for Teacher Educators (GFTE), which he created and runs voluntarily.
The GFTE now has over 22,000 members from over 65 countries around the globe. As Director of the GFTE Munir brings the community together online for regular knowledge-sharing activities, utilising crowdsourcing and his socioecoethical vision to build capacity and advance techniques that utilise technology in the most effective ways in education settings around the world. The forum also works to enhance access to education for elderly citizens and to increase drug literacy around the globe.
Recently, the GFTE 2023 International Symposium brought together a range of keynote speakers and educator stories to create an event that attracted over 3500 attendees. IET’s own Associate Director (Curriculum) and Qualifications Director Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman, and Associate Lecturer Dr Simon Ball, were both honoured to be invited as keynote speakers, alongside the distinguished guest speaker Jennifer Hancock, founder of Humanist Learning Systems. In addition Rosa Zubizaretta and Dr Patricia Omidian spoke together on “From Conflict to Creative Collaboration: Tips for Teachers”. A range of vignettes from educators around the globe were presented to highlight the passion and commitment of teachers to making their profession better at every turn. The event was extremely well received with many hundreds of positive comments from audience members.
Everyone at IET would like to congratulate Munir on his British Council award, and we wish the Global Forum for Teacher Educators every success as it grows and strengthens.
