Internships (4) Research on Education and Development (READ) Unit, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence Italy

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Education Research

Internships:

UNICEF –Innocenti Research on Education and Development (READ) Unit

Duty station: Florence, Italy. The internship is on-site (if travel is possible without restrictions due to COVID and/or Visa issues). Off-site/flexible working arrangements will be considered based on specific situation.

Application deadline: November 27th, 2022. Duration: Six months, full-time, with approximate dates from February 1st to 31st July 2023.

Background: UNICEF Innocenti explores emerging issues, identifies research gaps, brings together existing researchers, and supports or undertakes research and data collection to address critical questions and to inform policy dialogue and implementation at country level. Every Child has the right to learn. The breadth and depth of the learning crisis provides the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship.

Education is a key focus of UNICEF Innocenti. Working with UNICEF Headquarters, regional and country offices as well as universities and international partners, the READ (education) unit supports 50+ countries worldwide in conducting evidence-based reviews and field research through multi-country studies.

Teachers for All (T4A) research programme is seeking to expand the evidence base on educators in Africa with the aim of exploring how the recruitment and deployment of primary and pre-primary schoolteachers may be optimized to improve equity in learning outcomes. The programme combines quantitative and qualitative methods and builds on findings from the pan-African Time to Teach study. T4A is currently active in 6 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa and in 5 countries in West and Central Africa.

Since 2019, in line with UNICEF Foundational Learning and Numeracy (FLN) Programme, Data Must Speak (DMS) identifies positive deviant schools (i.e. schools that outperform even though they operate with equivalent resources and contexts). The research explores why these positive deviant schools are outperforming others and investigates how the related positive deviant behaviors/practices could be scaled up in lower performing schools. DMS uses a co-creation and co-implementation mixed-methods approach combining quantitative, qualitative and participatory implementation research as well as behavioral and scaling science, to improve uptake, replicability and sustainability. The research is being undertaken in 14 countries across three continents.

The Digital Learning research portfolio leverages UNICEF’s global reach and local capacity, to embed implementation research into largescale digital learning partnerships to inform and improve the way that governments, UNICEF, and partners: (1) Deliver digital learning offline - The Learning Passport partnership between UNICEF and Microsoft has developed a fully interactive digital learning experience that is contextualized for each country where it is deployed; (2) Unlock opportunities for children with disabilities - The Accessible Digital Textbooks initiative develops digital learning tools with features that allow children with disabilities to engage with the same content and in the same classroom as their peers; and (3) Develop foundational skills with a fun learning application - The UNICEF – Akelius Foundation partnership co-creates and implements an interactive and gamified digital learning app for language and math.

The early years of a child’s life are critical to building the foundations of learning that help them succeed in school and beyond. READ has established a new research portfolio focused on early childhood education, and inclusive education for children with disabilities at the pre-primary and primary stages. Priority activities for the upcoming year include conducting research to support system strengthening of ECE systems globally, improving quality assurance mechanisms for ECE services, in addition to performing diagnoses of education systems through an inclusive lens.

READ also produces evidence on gender and school leadership. The Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL) mixed methods research explores the current barriers preventing more women from becoming school leader, examines the differences in learning outcomes for schools led by women compared to men and understands the behaviors and practices women adopt that contribute to these differences.

1. Objectives UNICEF Innocenti aims to select four interns to support the production and use of high-quality mixed-methods education research for supporting education system strengthening and policy dialogue at country level and addressing the learning crisis, in particular for the most vulnerable children. * 2. Specific activities to be completed to achieve the objectives The interns will support the smooth implementation of the READ research projects described above and will perform the following activities:

a. Research and dissemination (90%)

• Support the implementation of quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies for research. This may involve the cleaning, coding and analysis of survey, interview, and focus group discussion data. • Contribute to the production of written outputs including policy reports, working papers, blog posts and policy briefs. This may involve undertaking literature and policy reviews, conducting comparative analyses, writing up findings, and working with a team of copyeditors and graphic designers. • Contribute to the identification of potential funding opportunities and development of new research proposals on education systems and on learning at local level (in and outside the school). • Support research dissemination. This may include supporting the organization of dissemination events (remote or onsite) and the development of background documentation (e.g., concept notes, invitations, media products, infographics, slide decks, etc.). b. Contribution to the Office of Research work programme and support to the cross-cutting research agenda (10%)

• Contribute to the overall research activities of the Office. • Support interdisciplinary research through involvement in selected cross functional teams and consultations and participation in office seminars.

3. Minimum requirements and competencies The candidates should: • Be enrolled in the last year of a master's or Ph.D. programme at an accredited institution or be a recent graduate (have graduated within the past two years) in Education, Economics, Statistics or other fields in Social Sciences related to the work of UNICEF. • Have experience in quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis. • Be fluent and have excellent reading and writing skills in English. Knowledge of French, Spanish and Portuguese will be an advantage. • Have strong academic performance as demonstrated by recent university or institution records or, if not available, a reference letter from an academic supervisor. • Have no immediate relatives (father, mother, son, daughter, sister, brother) working in any UNICEF offices in the world. • Have comprehensive health insurance coverage for the entire duration of the internship (UNICEF does not arrange health insurance for interns).

Required competencies: • Technical - strong understanding of various quantitative and qualitative methodologies and analysis. • Technical - strong research and analytical skills and ability to conduct critical literature reviews. • Technical - excellent knowledge and command of Excel and of statistical software. • Communication - effectively presents thoughts and ideas including complex technical concepts, in a clear, concise and readily understood manner, both verbally and in writing. Listens to and acknowledges others’ perspectives and views. • Managing resources – be efficient and effective. The candidate is comfortable with organizing and managing time and information to achieve defined goals and optimum results, working to strict deadlines. • Flexibility - works effectively on multiple assignments simultaneously and adapts to changing demands and circumstances. • Flexibility - ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

Assets: • Experience in research on issues related to education, in particular, teacher management, early childhood education, inclusive education, digital learning, gender and/or education data systems. • Experience in drafting policy-relevant reports. • Research publications in refereed/peer-reviewed journals. • Knowledge and command of data visualization software and tools.

• UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) and core competencies in Communication, Builds and maintains partnerships, demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, Working with People, Drive for Results, innovates and embraces change, manages ambiguity and complexity, thinks and acts strategically. View our competency framework at: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

4. Duration and hours Duration: 6 months, starting from February 2023. Working hours: 5 days per week, 8 hours per day from 9 am to 5:30 pm.

5. Terms of the internship • The internship foresees an all-inclusive monthly stipend of US $1,200 • Individuals must fund their travel and living expenses. They may be provided with up to US $1,000 to cover travel costs. • Individuals must have proof of medical insurance covering their time at the duty station. • Individuals are personally responsible for obtaining any required visa, covering the entire period of their internship. If necessary, UNICEF will support the process by providing relevant documents such as the proof of internship. • Interns may take up to 2.5 days per month off work for any reason, including for medical reasons. • Individuals may need to travel in order to perform their contract (depending on the evolving COVID-19 health situation) where the project is implemented and as required for implementation of the activities. Costs of travel, visas, or immunizations to undertake any required fieldwork associated with the Internship contract will be borne by UNICEF. (a) UNICEF will pay and organize for such a travel by paying an amount equivalent to the daily subsistence allowance that would be paid to the staff members undertaking similar travel for official purposes, (b) Individuals will be responsible to request the visa based on his/her nationality with the office support (c) Individual will be responsible to purchase travel insurance for the mission and will be reimbursed by UNICEF.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Candidates should submit their CVs and clearly include in their Cover letter the following information:

• Preferred work stream (a) Teachers; (b) Data Must Speak; (c) Digital Learning; (d) Early Childhood Education; and/or (e) Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL). Please note that you can apply simultaneously to more than one work stream.

DISCLAIMER UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.