Teacher Advisory Group and Student Ambassadors
The three groups
Teacher Advisory Group
Teacher Advisory Group
The Advisory Group is made up of Topical Talk teachers who care deeply about media literacy, oracy and improving students' life chances through discussions about current affairs. It represents a cross-section of teachers from different regions, countries and phases in order to share a breadth of knowledge and experience.
The Group’s job is to advise, inform and guide the future of our core programmes in a network of passionate and inspiring colleagues who can share experiences and best practice.
The teachers feed their experience and ideas into the following areas:
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Topic selection
The stories we cover and why they matter to your students
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Resource design
What works and where to make improvements
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Teacher development
What support we give teachers to successfully implement our programmes
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Student impact
The best way to develop and measure Topical Talk knowledge and skills
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Growth
How and where the Foundation should work next
They also champion The Economist Educational Foundation in local community networks and host a visit to their classroom for The Foundation and its supporters to see the programme in action
15 educators join our termly conversations, from ten countries:
- Echo See, Lee Street Elementary, United States
- Marina Hurtado Alvarado, IES Al-Qázeres, Spain
- Marie-Hélène Fasquel, Lycée Raoul Dautry, France
- Gemma Papworth, Meridian High, United Kingdom
- Lorna Clifford, Boutcher Primary School, United Kingdom
- Dr Graham Ford, The Mayflower Center, Romania
- Anandhi Mani, Shri Natesan, India
- Agha Egwu Michael, Kassie Braun Memorial Schools, Nigeria
- Bosede Obdende, Bomas Academy, Nigeria
- Rebecca Brewer, Troy High School, United States
- Maria-Teresa Sanchez-Barbudo, IES Francisco Salinas, Spain
- Josh Hatt, West Point Grey Academy, Canada
- Dr Gayathri Ramachandran, Shri Natesan, India
- Helen Wilford, St George's School Rome, Italy
- Liana Georgescu, The Mayflower Center, Romania
Student Ambassadors
Our student ambassadors are a hand-selected group of students who have excelled in the Topical Talk programmes that they have participated in.
In lessons, they share opinions and arguments and are listened to, and heard by, their teachers and peers. We want to amplify their voices further. We’ve created an international community of young people who are passionate about the news.
14 young people join our termly conversations, from seven countries.
How we engage
The group meets for three online workshops over the course of the year and feed into three key areas of the Foundation’s work:
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The topics we choose
What types of news matters to young people and how it should be covered
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The lessons we design
The activities and styles of learning that make the most impact
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How we involve student voice
How young people can shape the Foundation’s future
Teacher Advisory Group, England
Our newly established “TEEFTAG England” collates a small but mighty group of teachers who share their unique insights on teaching Topical Talk and their schools’ plans for the new National Curriculum in England, due to be taught from 2028.
This group is vital to help us get a better understanding of how schools are preparing for the changes. They’ll get a first-look at the resources we develop, share their recommendations and feedback and be integral to the way our programmes evolve.
→ Sarah Kohl, Morley Newlands Academy, Leeds
→ Beth Logan, Tibshelf Academy, Derbyshire
→ Linda Jack, Grieg City Academy, London
→ Charmaine Hull, Putteridge High, Bedfordshire