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Teachers' Voices

Teachers are one of the most influential and powerful forces for equity, access and quality in education. They provide children and young people with the knowledge, skills, attitude and tools needed to reach their full potential. Teachers' Voices is a podcast series from BOLD, the digital platform on learning and development. Join Nina Alonso as she shares powerful stories from teachers around the world, talking in their own words about their experiences, and listen in on inspiring conversations with international experts on learning and child development. If you're a parent, teacher, or just someone interested in learning and development, this podcast is for you. For more information, visit bold.expert

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Teachers' Voices

Improving children’s lives with evidence in education

May 27, 2025 • BOLD and Nina Alonso • Season 4 • Episode 9

Why is evidence so important in education solutions? How is evidence incorporated into large-scale educational solutions? How can evidence lead to greater equity in education?

In this episode, Nina first speaks to Vicky Colbert, from Colombia. Vicky is the founder of Fundación Escuela Nueva, an NGO that has shaped the way multigrade classrooms operate. Vicky tells Nina how they use evidence to ensure their work is effective, equitable, and scalable. Evidence improves outcomes, by showing what works and what doesn’t work. Teachers are the agents of change in their solution, as they get together to learn. Vicky says that “teachers sometimes learn more from other teachers than from experts”.

Next, Nina meets Karen Levesque, Head of Research at Imagine Worldwide. Imagine Worldwide is an NGO making education accessible through technology and self-directed learning. They strongly believed that personalised EdTech had the potential to make a difference in Sub-Saharan Africa, but they wanted to prove it could make a difference before implementing their solution. “Having an evidence base can help schools and systems decide: what is best for our children?” Karen says.

Both NGOs are winners of the 2024 Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Prizes, in recognition of institutions and individuals implementing evidence-based solutions aimed at promoting child development and learning in practice.

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Guests and resources

Vicky Colbert: LinkedIn, X

Fundación Escuela Nueva: website, Facebook, YouTube

Karen Levesque: LinkedIn

Imagine Worldwide: website, short introduction video, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter