Coalitions in education to generate systemic impact

Coalitions in education strengthen public policies, broaden the impact of social investment, and demonstrate that systemic challenges require collective responses

By Beatriz Waclawek and Pedro Murgel

At a recent forum on education in Latin America, Brazil drew attention for a reason that is still rarely discussed in these spaces: the sophistication of the response that the third sector has built to face large-scale challenges.

What surprises our neighbors is seeing distinct organizations, often with competing agendas, investing in a common direction. The paradox is that this same astonishment still resonates among many Brazilian investors.

The logic is simple, but it requires a shift in mindset that is not trivial. Isolated projects do not produce systemic impacts. However large an organization's investment in its own program may be, structural problems require collective solutions.

It was this recognition that, in 2017, led a group of organizations to found the Teaching Profession Movement, based on the shared understanding that improving Brazilian education largely depends on teacher training.

Coalitions in education strengthen public policies.
The Teaching Profession program works to expand the capacity of the State, not to replace it. There is a fundamental difference between offering programs to the public sector to meet institutional goals and strengthening public policies that already exist or should exist.

The third sector, when acting in a coordinated manner, expands the State's capacity to respond. It identifies gaps, produces evidence, mobilizes different actors, and strengthens the implementation of agendas that would hardly advance at the same pace through state action alone.

Today, the Teaching Profession program is present throughout the country, with more than eight organizations investing in a common agenda. The results are already evident in the strengthening of public education networks, the advancement of regulatory frameworks for teacher training, and the capacity of states and municipalities to attract, train, and develop good teachers.

An example of this is the municipality of Joinville, which implements the systemic teaching agenda and stands out as having the best IDEB (Basic Education Development Index) among cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants.

The role of investors in the face of systemic challenges.
The question that remains for those who finance education in Brazil is straightforward: does it make more sense to disperse resources across parallel initiatives or to concentrate them where a coalition already exists with a track record, territorial presence, and the capacity to influence public policies?

Perhaps the answer isn't choosing one model over another. It's important to support initiatives aligned with the values, purpose, and vision of the funder. Distributed financing allows for testing methodologies, experimenting with different approaches, and fostering innovation. This diversity is indispensable in the face of a historically complex challenge.

However, this model has limitations. On its own, it is unlikely to mobilize new investors, scale up, or produce structural changes. This is where coalitions become strategic: they connect different investors, combine capabilities, and increase the possibility of influencing public policies.

Coalitions emerge as a response to these limitations. They mobilize more financial and human capital and, by bringing together different perspectives, produce more robust strategies. Following this approach, the Bem Maior Movement structures part of its social investment strategy by building and supporting coalitions such as the Teaching Profession Movement. Working in a network may require more time, but it increases the quality and reach of solutions.

Funding alone only has its limits. Funding together expands the reach of a transformation that no single investor could achieve on their own.

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This post is a collaboration between the Teaching Profession Movement and MBM.

Image Credit: Teaching Profession Movement