National Individual Consultancy – Effectiveness of Communities of practice

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

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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, wellbeing

Through Education and Skills Development programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, significant efforts have been made to create and strengthen communities of practice among teachers and education professionals. These initiatives aimed to ensure sustainability of interventions, where communities of practice (COP) are observed as a group of individuals, educators in this case, who come together fueled by a common interest and with a motivation to both learn and share with their peers their individual learning journeys.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that organic interactions and knowledge-sharing occur through cross-country platforms, facilitated by the similarity in language and curricula of the four countries subjected to observation. However, this phenomenon of cross-country networks is driven exclusively by non-governmental organizations, and it is unclear to what extent these efforts are valued or recognized by official education authorities.

Except for some limited evidence deriving from Serbian education authorities, to date, no in-depth impact analysis has been conducted to assist UNICEF Country Offices (COs) and their partners in leveraging communities of practice as a sustainable mechanism for short-term projects, organic dissemination, and peer-to-peer support.

Having this context in mind, the abovementioned UNICEF COs have come together to generate evidence on effectiveness and prospects of communities of practice in education sector, which will support each country office and potential subregional interventions in designing and supporting effective communities of education professionals.

The four COs have partnered with UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight to design and implement a comprehensive, multi-country research, which will aim at answering the following questions:

Motivations and Barriers:

• What drives teachers to join and engage in communities of practice? • What prevents some teachers from participating in these communities?

Interaction and Effectiveness:

• How do teachers interact within communities of practice (online vs. offline)? • What distinguishes effective, engaging, and accessible communities from less successful ones?

Accessibility and Content:

• How accessible are professional communities of practice for teachers? • What type of content do teachers prefer, and how is this content developed?

Quality and Sustainability:

• How is the quality of professional learning communities ensured? • What strategies ensure the sustainability of these communities?

Recognition and Support:

• What criteria do education authorities use to acknowledge teachers' participation in communities of practice as professional development? • How are communities of practice integrated into pre-service training curricula and in-service professional development rulebooks?

Stakeholder Roles and Impact:

• What roles do key stakeholders (education authorities, academia, professional associations) play in building and supporting communities of practice? • How do teachers perceive the impact of participating in these communities on their professional growth and student motivation?

Scalability and Regional Activities:

• What strategies exist to scale the use of communities of practice in the region? • What subregional activities are relevant and of interest to teachers?

Business Case:

• Is there a business case for a national or subregional community of practice that is culturally contextualized and focused on specific thematic areas?

The research team will be led by Innocenti experts, including a Research Manager and a Multi-method Research Specialist, with close involvement from Education staff members of the four participating Country Offices. National individual consultants, as specified in this Terms of Reference (TOR), will also play a key role in the team. Each country office will hire an individual consultant who will constitute a wider multi-country research team, supporting both subregional and national activities.

How can you make a difference?

The main responsibilities of the individual consultant include:

• Map national and subregional communities of practice • Support the development of research tools, including questionnaires for online surveys and protocols for focus groups and key informant interviews • Organize and conduct minimum 6 focus groups (online and hybrid) • Organize and conduct minimum 6 interviews • Prepare focus groups and interviews transcripts and reports in English • Support dissemination of large-scale online survey • Support validation of key findings • Support development of the country-level brief and subregional report wider multi-country research team, supporting both subregional and national activities.

(1) Work Assignment Overview - Communities of practice mapped by August 20th, 2024

Deliverables

- Online and offline, formal and informal communities or practice mapped and classified - A clear dataset of COPs prepared and submitted

(2) Work Assignment Overview - Research tools developed, key respondents mapped, by August 31st, 2024

Deliverables

- Support provided for development and contextualization of quantitative instruments - Protocols for focus groups and key informant interviews developed and synchronized with other COs - Focus groups and key informants interview participants mapped and confirmed with the Cos

(3) Work Assignment Overview - Qualitative data collection completed, by October 15th, 2024

- Minimum 6 focus groups (online and in person) conducted - Minimum 6 key informant interviews conducted - Focus groups and interviews transcripts submitted - Summary reports prepared and submitted (in English)

(4) Work Assignment Overview - Large-scale online survey disseminated, by December 15th, 2024

- Formal and informal networks utilized for increased outreach and participation of survey respondents - Key findings validated, research reports completed, by April 1st 2025 - Contribute to development of final research report and country briefs - Validate key findings and recommendations with key national stakeholders

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

- University Degree in Education, Social Sciences, or related fields: Specialized knowledge in educational theory and qualitative research methodologies. - 3-5 years of experience in leading research projects: Proven track record in managing complex research initiatives, including qualitative data collection and analysis. - Expertise in Educational Policy and Systems: Comprehensive understanding of educational governance, policy frameworks, and systemic dynamics. - Strong Analytical Skills: Ability to synthesize qualitative data, identify trends, and generate actionable insights for educational improvement. - Fluency in English and local languages (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian) mandatory. - Strong ICT skills, including the use of Microsoft Office package - Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, intercultural sensitivity; - Strong facilitation skills and ability to work independently and proactively - Excellent attention to detail, organisational skills and discretion with confidential information - At least 3 years of progressive experience in research, with a focus on social research, education or related fields. - Demonstrated experience in research design, qualitative data collection, analysis, and report writing. - Proficient in analysing complex data sets using qualitative methods. - Experience in facilitating consultations with government representatives, CSOs, teachers and/or education staff. - Excellent written and verbal communication for reports, presentations, and training sessions. - Skilled in qualitative data analysis software (NVivo, ATLAS.ti, or MAXQDA) considered an asset. - Previous exposure to areas of work relevant to UNICEF programmes – considered an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

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Added 2 days ago - Updated 47 minutes ago - Source: unicef.org