The Best Teachers in the World
The Global Teacher Prize Story: The Global Teacher Prize is a US $1 million award presented annually to an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to their profession. And here:
Meet - Global Teacher Prize 2015 Winner Nancie is a teacher, author and advocate that freedom and choice is key to keeping students motivated and excited about learning.
'World's best teacher' does not believe in tests and quizzes.
Nancie Atwell on what makes an effective teacher:
Nancie Atwell - Global Teacher Prize 2015 Winner
Meet Hanan Al Hroub - Global Teacher Prize 2016 – Winner: Hanan strives to provide peace in the classroom coupled with attention to individual children’s needs. Her goal is to lend a helping hand to children who have been exposed to any kind of violence and need special care in their first years at school.
Hanan Al Hroub - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Winner
Global Teacher Prize 2016: Prize Announcement with Pope Francis and Salma Hayek (GESF 2016) and World's Best Teacher Back To School
Meet Maggie MacDonnell – Global Teacher Prize Winner 2017:
Canadian teacher Maggie MacDonnell wins $1m Global Teacher Prize: and Here:
Global Teacher Prize 2017 Awards Ceremony Highlights:
Meet Maggie MacDonnell - Global Teacher Prize 2017:
Meet some of the top finalists from around the world:
2017 Finalists
Maggie MacDonnell - Global Teacher Prize 2017 Winner For the last 6 years, Maggie has been a teacher in a fly-in Inuit village nestled in the Canadian Arctic, where she has turned around educational outcomes. Project based, student centered. Canada.
Wemerson da Silva Nogueira - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Wemerson turned his school around completely with a range of creative and fun teaching techniques. Brazil.
Raymond Chambers - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist As an ICT specialist, Raymond has innovated ways of learning for both pupils and teachers that have become an international success. UK
Ken Silburn - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist Ken is an innovative science teacher whose proactive approach has motivated many students from poorer backgrounds to go on and succeed. Australia
David Calle - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist: David is the founder and creator of the Unicoos website – a hugely innovative educational video resource that has helped over 30 million students learn.
Marie-Christine Ghanbari Jahromi - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist: Marie-Christine’s aim has been to increase her pupils’ self-esteem, motivation, and empathy, which she has accomplished through her Sportpatenproject. Germany
Tracy-Ann Hall - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist Tracy-Ann trained as an automotive technician before becoming a teacher, and has used her skills to transform both her pupils and their prospects. Jamaica
Boya Yang - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist: A teacher and psychologist, Boya offers guidance to both vulnerable students and their parents
Salima Begum - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist Salima has overcome the limitations of her own circumstances to make a huge contribution to her pupils prospects and create awareness of the benefits of girls education. Pakistan
Michael Wamaya - Global Teacher Prize 2017 - Top 10 Finalist Michael teaches ballet with Annos Africa and has used his distinctive skills to turn around dropout and teen pregnancy rates among his students. Kenya
2016 Finalists
Hanan Al Hroub - Global Teacher Prize 2016 – Winner Hanan strives to provide peace in the classroom coupled with attention to individual children’s needs. Her goal is to lend a helping hand to children who have been exposed to any kind of violence and need special care in their first years at school.
Ayub Mohamud - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Ayub Mohamud is a business studies and Islamic Religious Education teacher at Eastleigh High School, Nairobi Kenya. He has a passion for innovation, creativity and social entrepreneurship. Kenya
Robin Chaurasiya - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Robin co-founded and teaches at Kranti, a nonprofit that empowers marginalised girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas to become agents of social change. Her students, girls aged 12-20, include survivors of trafficking and daughters of sex workers. (“My background is never my weakness; my background is always my strength.”) India
Colin Hegarty - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Colin's mission is to show children that they too can do maths – as well as anything else in life – if they believe in themselves, work hard and have the right support. England
Kazuya Takahashi - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Inspired by his own teachers, Kazuya decided to give back to the next generation of students and so went to graudate school in the US to study Instructional Design and Learning Science. He encourages his students to be creative and independent. (Social Studies) Japan.
Aqeela Asifi - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist After becoming a refugee in the Kot Chandana camp in Pakistan, Aqeela completely changed the face of education for young girls there. While educating girls was considered wrong and female teachers were unheard of, Aqeela set up a school for girls in a borrowed tent and worked hard to overcome parents’ reluctance towards education. Pakistan.
Joe Fatheree - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Joe began teaching almost thirty years ago, and quickly found that his 16- to 18-year-old at-risk students did not respond to the methods he had learned in teacher training. Ready to change everything to be able to connect with them, he let his students have a say in how they wanted to be taught. Social Studies/Project Based/Economics, USA
Michael Soskil - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Having looked at neuroscience research, he bases his approach to teaching on the finding that learning is stored in long-term memory when a child emotionally connects with what is being taught. Project based. USA
Rick Johnson - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Richard Johnson's principal Tom Campbell was looking for a way of exposing primary school students to more engaging science learning. Richard jumped at the opportunity and became a science specialist teacher. His science lab evolved into an advanced STEM lab for young students. Project Based Australia
Maarit Rossi - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist Maarit believed the problem of children not wanting to do mathematics was entirely due to the way it is commonly taught. So she began to develop a new method that teaches mathematics by asking students to collaborate in groups and solve real-life problems. Project/Inquiry Finland
2015 Finalists (First year of the program)
Nancie Atwell - Global Teacher Prize 2015 Winner Nancie is a teacher, author and advocate that freedom and choice is key to keeping students motivated and excited about learning.
USA
Phalla Neang - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Phalla has worked for years to teach blind children and also change the perception of people who have sight issues in Cambodia.
Naomi Volain - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 finalist Naomi applied to be the first teacher in space and is part of NASAs Network Of Educator Astronaut Teachers. We're excited to welcome her to the Varkey Teacher Ambassadors Programme. USA
Aziz Royesh - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Aziz became a teacher to instil hope and aspiration in Afghan youths who were struggling with poverty, life in refugee camps and the legacies of war. Although he initially intended to teach only basic literacy, he then realised that it was essential to provide an education that could overcome the culture of violence, hatred and pessimism in the region. In order to help build a new nation, he saw a need to rebuild the Afghan education system with a focus on civic education and female empowerment. Afghanistan
Kiran Bir Sethi - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Kiran talks about her Design Thinking approach to teaching, what motivates her and more! Read her whole story here. India
Richard Spencer - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist: Richard’s uses unique and interesting methods to make learning science not only fun but memorable. He often uses the medium of song and dance and this has won him the Salter Prize for Teaching Chemistry and two national STAR awards (Further Education Teacher of The Year and Outstanding Subject Learning Coach).
Stephen Ritz - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Stephen saw problems outside of his school and decided to get his students to improve their community. He has increased the attendance rate of his school, created jobs and started to help his students learn life skills. USA
Madenjit Singh - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Madenjit taught himself English and then made a system to help others learn it as well. Now, students of his methods can learn basic English in just 3 months. East Timor
Guy Etienne - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Guy has worked hard to make his school the benchmark of quality in Haiti. Not only does he teach students but he also trains teachers as well.
Jacqueline Kahura - Global Teacher Prize - Top 10 Finalist Jacqueline tells of her groundbreaking work in rural Kenya. She's made such a massive impact on thousands of students and teachers in a short space of time. Kenya