Childhood Education International’s Center for Professional Learning (CPL) supports educators worldwide through high-quality professional learning grounded in holistic, inclusive, and sustainable teaching and learning principles.
Founded in 2016 by Dr. Diana Woolis, who served as CPL Director from 2016–2022, and Gareth Crawford, CEO of the Carey Institute for Global Good, the Center was originally established as the Center for Learning in Practice. Housed within the Carey Institute until 2021, the Center joined Childhood Education International to expand its reach, partnerships, and impact across global education systems.
Renamed the Center for Professional Learning in 2022, CPL continues to thrive as it scales up, out, and deep—building on its strong foundation of educator-centered practice while advancing new models of professional learning.
Today, CPL serves as both a hub for educator-centered programming and a laboratory for innovation—informing and strengthening CE International’s broader Professional Learning consulting practice. Through CPL, we pilot, test, and refine approaches that can later be scaled, adapted, and embedded into systems through our consulting work with governments, NGOs, education institutions, and partners.
Our professional learning resources are created with educators, for educators, using co-creation models that emphasize collaboration, reflection, and shared problem-solving. Across all of our work, we prioritize educator agency, contextual relevance, and long-term sustainability—particularly in fragile, emergency, and rapidly changing learning environments.
CPL supports educators in cultivating responsive, holistic learning environments that nurture children’s learning, wellbeing, and development. Working in partnership with educators, we co-create professional learning resources and opportunities that reflect local realities while strengthening shared professional standards and practices.
Educators are centered as self-directed learners and leaders — supported to reflect on their practice, learn from peers, and apply new approaches within their local, national, and regional contexts. This work spans diverse learning environments, including schools, community-based programs, and non-formal education settings.
CPL has a long history of providing sustainable professional learning opportunities for educators working in emergency, displacement, and crisis-affected settings. We partner with educators to co-create solutions, resources, and learning approaches that respond to complex challenges while building resilience and long-term capacity.
Each CPL initiative is context-driven and asset-based, shaped by educators’ strengths, experiences, hopes, and needs. Through learning communities, we model practices that improve teaching experiences and learning outcomes for both educators and students — while generating lessons that inform CE International’s consulting and systems-level work.
This project has taught us to bond together, walk towards our common goals, be tolerant, overcome obstacles on the path to our objectives, collaborate, and arrange teaching materials that we can utilize.
Project Fellow & Aspiring Educator
CPL functions as a space for experimentation and collaboration, where educators, facilitators, and researchers come together in communities of practice to explore new ideas, test approaches, and learn from one another. These learning communities enable CPL to:
Design and pilot new professional learning models
Develop open-access tools and resources
Generate evidence and insights that inform CEI’s consulting engagements
Elevate educator voice and lived experience as expertise
While CE International’s consulting work primarily focuses on early childhood, CPL’s professional learning initiatives extend across childhood, reflecting the interconnected nature of learning, development, and educator practice. This broader lens allows CPL to address transitions, continuity, and alignment across age groups—strengthening learning ecosystems as a whole.
Yes! While most of CE International’s work operates through a consulting model, CPL continues to play a complementary role, sustaining grant-supported professional learning programs that allow for depth, innovation, and long-term field-building.
Absolutely! The Center for Professional Learning offers a range of courses and microcredentials designed with and for educators, grounded in practical, real-world learning. Our offerings support professional growth across diverse contexts— including emergency and crisis-affected settings— and reflect our commitment to holistic, sustainable learning. You can explore current courses, microcredentials, and learning resources here.
There are many ways to get involved, including joining CPL’s Community Space, an online forum where educators can connect with each other to share resources, network, learn from each other, and support each other’s wellbeing.
For more information about partnering with the Center for Professional Learning, please contact Meg Riley, Director of Teaching and Learning, at mriley@ceinternational1892.org.
