Reconnecting teachers with purpose through collaboration and professional learning
Across many education systems, questions around teacher well-being have become increasingly urgent. Yet there is growing recognition that well-being cannot be separated from pedagogy itself. How teachers experience their work, their sense of professional purpose and the quality of relationships within schools are deeply connected to the learning experiences students encounter every day.
Building on previous collaboration between the IB, UNESCO and the Bogotá Secretariat of Education, the relationship between the IB and the city has continued to evolve around broader questions concerning public education, professional learning and human flourishing. What began through conversations on assessment and educational quality has gradually expanded into a deeper dialogue about how educational systems can create the conditions that allow both educators and students to thrive.
In May 2026, this ongoing collaboration led to the Bogotá Pedagogical Symposium, Teaching with Purpose: Pedagogical Strengthening and Teacher Self-Efficacy in Upper Secondary Education. More than 70 teachers from public schools across Bogotá participated alongside colleagues from the Secretariat's central offices, particularly the Directorate of Upper Secondary Education and the Office of School Coexistence and Well-being.
Rather than functioning as a stand-alone event, the symposium formed part of a broader cycle of professional learning jointly designed by the Bogotá Secretariat of Education and the IB.
The initiative unfolded across three interconnected stages. First, participating teachers voluntarily submitted pedagogical projects connected to challenges they wished to address in their own classrooms. These proposals ensured that the process remained grounded in the realities and priorities of schools across the city.
The second stage was the symposium itself. Through a keynote lecture delivered by Professor Ana María Velásquez from Universidad de los Andes and four collaborative workshops, participants explored themes including student agency, conceptual understanding, formative assessment and collaborative practice.
The process will continue in September, when teachers will reconvene to share how the ideas explored during the symposium translated into classroom practice and to exchange evidence, reflections and experiences emerging from their projects.
A model of shared facilitation
One distinctive feature of the symposium was its collaborative design and facilitation model. Rather than delivering separate sessions, colleagues from the IB and the Bogotá Secretariat of Education co-designed and co-facilitated the workshops together.
In many ways, the structure of the symposium reflected the philosophy underpinning the partnership itself: educational improvement is strengthened when institutions recognize each other's expertise and create opportunities for mutual learning.
The IB facilitation team brought together colleagues from across the organization, including Mariana Manzo from School Systems Design; Alexandra Francesconi from Curriculum Development; and Mauricio Joven, Chloé Suberville and Guillermo Duff from IB World Schools. Working alongside colleagues from the Bogotá Secretariat of Education, facilitators collectively guided the conversations, activities and reflections throughout the day.
For Aldo Anzures, Head of School Systems Design (Early and Primary Years) at the IB and lead coordinator of the initiative, this principle of mutual learning lies at the heart of the collaboration.
"The purpose was never to bring solutions to Bogotá. The city has a rich pedagogical tradition and a deep understanding of its own context. Our role was to contribute research, international perspectives and pedagogical frameworks while creating spaces where educators could think together about practice, purpose and the deeply human dimensions of teaching."
Professional learning as a pathway to well-being
The symposium was grounded in a simple but powerful premise: teacher well-being and student learning are interconnected.
Research increasingly suggests that meaningful feedback, collaboration, active participation and strong relationships contribute not only to deeper learning but also to healthier educational communities. This understanding closely aligned with ongoing work within Bogotá around socio-emotional development, school coexistence and teacher well-being.
Throughout the day, conversations focused on questions many education systems currently face:
- How do we sustain the meaning of teaching?
- How do we strengthen professional relationships within schools?
- How do we create conditions in which both students and teachers can flourish?
Reconnecting with purpose
Feedback collected after the symposium revealed remarkably consistent themes. Teachers repeatedly highlighted the value of exchanging experiences with colleagues from different schools and disciplines, reflecting collectively on their practice and building connections across professional communities that often work in isolation.
One participant reflected on the design of the experience itself:
"The opportunity to interact and reflect with peers. The fact that the workshop itself embodied the ideas and concepts being discussed was both inspiring and meaningful."
Another teacher emphasized the importance of professional recognition:
"It allowed me to recognize and value my work as a teacher."
A third participant highlighted the importance of professional community:
"Thank you for creating these spaces for pedagogical reflection and for making it possible to build camaraderie with colleagues from other institutions."
Interestingly, one of the strongest messages emerging from participants was not centered on the content itself, but on the importance of continuity. Many teachers expressed the value of creating more opportunities for professional dialogue, collaboration and reflection, recognizing that these spaces contribute not only to professional learning but also to the strengthening of educational communities.
Looking ahead
The Bogotá Pedagogical Symposium represents only one stage within an ongoing process. In the coming months, participating teachers will continue implementing their classroom projects and, later this year, will reconvene to share evidence, reflections and lessons learned from practice.
For both the IB and the Bogotá Secretariat of Education, the collaboration demonstrates what can emerge when institutions work horizontally around shared educational purposes.
Ultimately, educational transformation rarely happens through documents alone. More often, it happens through relationships: between institutions, between colleagues and, above all, between teachers and students.
By creating spaces where educators can learn together, reflect on their practice and reconnect with purpose, collaborations such as this one seek to support something fundamental: the human flourishing of those who sustain education every day.
Extending the conversation across Bogotá
Held in conjunction with a wider programme of events taking place in Bogotá that week, the event "How Approaches to Teaching Contribute to Student Well-Being" was organized in collaboration with IBWS teammates and a wide range of local stakeholders. It brought together more than 100 coordinators and heads of school from both public and private schools, many of whom travelled from other cities in Colombia to attend.
The day opened with programme-specific roundtables: one for PYP and one for MYP, two combining DP and CP, and one featuring eight PYP, MYP and DP students. Participants then heard directly from students reflecting on how approaches to teaching had shaped their learning at different moments in their educational journeys. This was followed by a panel of coordinators from across all programmes, alongside a member of the Bogotá Secretary of Education, who spoke on behalf of the many schools supported through the Bogotá project.
IB staff support was essential to the success of the event and offered a strong example of collaboration across the organization. They contributed deep knowledge of the context and valuable relationships, while providing support throughout the event, including sharing with participants the growth the IB has experienced in Colombia over the last decade.
