THREE TEACHERS FROM CANADA NAMED IN THE TOP 50 SHORTLIST FOR WORLD'S FIRST $1M GLOBAL TEACHER PRIZE
Three teachers from Canada have been included in the top 50 shortlist for a new one million dollar Global Teacher Prize, it was announced today.
Mark Reid, Vancouver Technical Secondary School, Vancouver; Steve Revington, Emily Carr Public School, London, Ontario; Glenn Wagner, Centre Wellington District High School, Mount Forest, Ontariowill compete for the $1 million Varkey GEMS Foundation Global Teacher Prize, given to one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.
Widelyreferred to as the Nobel prize for teaching, it is the largest prize of its kind and is open to teachers in every school in every country of the world. Applicants will be judged on how they open up their pupil's minds, how much they contribute to the community, and how much they encourage others to become teachers.
The Global Teacher Prize follows a long-standing commitment to improve the status of teachers by the Varkey GEMS Foundation (VGF). Last November, the VGF published theGlobal Teacher Status Index, the first attempt to compare attitudes towards teachers in 21 countries. The index found that there were significant differences between the status of teachers worldwide. The survey also found that in many countries, between a third and half of parents would probably or definitely not encourage their children from entering the teaching profession.
As a direct response to this, the Global Teacher Prize was set up to shine a spotlight on the profession to recognise and celebrate the important role teachers play in society. By unearthing thousands of stories of heroes that have transformed young people's lives, the prize hopes to bring to life the exceptional work that millions of teachers do all over the world. Ultimately, by hoping to raise teacher respect across the world, it aims to play a part in helping to recruit and retain the best candidates into the profession.
The top 50 have been shortlisted from over 5,000 nominations and 1,300 final applications from 127 countries from around the world including the US, UK, Italy, Kenya, Uganda, India, Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina Mexico and Jordan, amongst others. The top 50 shortlist has representatives from 26 countries and by highlighting their stories the Varkey GEMS Foundation hopes that the public will be able to join in passionate debates about which are the most important qualities in a good teacher. The winner will be announced at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai on Monday 16 March 2015.
Mark Reid teaches band, choir, symphony orchestra and theatre. Mark supported and coached 40 pupils to perform in multiple premiere performances including 'Dzunukwa', by Scott Good in cooperation with Western Front and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He focuses on acquiring authentic instruments from the Middle East and West Africa for quality performance experiences. Mark has also supervised nine teacher candidates, who have gone on to teach with similar enthusiasm. He was the 2013 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year and is President of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association.
Steve Revington has taught for 29 years in 16 different schools. His model of 'authentic learning' has become his career focus. The model means that the teacher is a guide and facilitator for the student's own learning experience. He has been nominated for awards by his students' parents and has recently received an Associate Teacher's Award for Excellence from Althouse College at the University of Western Ontario.
Glenn became a Science and Mathematics teacher due to his curiosity at the way the world works and his desire to infect others with this. He shares this knowledge with other teachers and has developed over thirty workshops and presentations, including a trip to CERN to show teachers how to incorporate modern science in the classroom. He is currently completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Education requirements with the University of Toronto.
Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey GEMS Foundation, said:
"The thousands of applications we received from all around the world is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormous impact they have on all of our lives.We introduced the prize this year in order to return teachers to their rightful position as the one of the most respected professions in society.
"The prize is not only about money; it's also about unearthing thousands of stories of inspiration as the many applications prove.
"Of course, more will be needed than the Global Teacher Prize to raise the status of profession worldwide.But my hope is that it's the start of a million conversations about the role of teachers - from families around the dinner table and teenagers on social media to education ministries around the world."
President Bill Clinton, Honorary Chairman of the Varkey GEMS Foundation, said:
"Attracting the best people to teaching, developing and supporting their skills, and holding our teachers in high regard — all are critically important to achieve excellence, both in teaching and learning."
Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey, who sits on the Global Teacher Prize Academy that chooses the final winner, said:
"When I was starting out, I was inspired by an older, more experienced actor, who told me that he thought I ought to go into acting professionally. That's the kind of mentoring and personal support that every young person needs to realise their potential.
"It's the kind of encouragement and guidance that good teachers give to their pupils every day. And that is why I support the Varkey GEMS Foundation's Global Teacher Prize.However much we achieve in life, we all began learning the basics from a teacher in a classroom.Those that teach - devoting their talents and time to nurturing the talents of others - deserve to be respected and celebrated"
The top 50 shortlisted teachers have now been judged by a Prize Committee with the final ten candidates to be announced in February 2015. The winner will then be chosen from these ten finalists by a Global Teacher Prize Academy. All ten finalists will be invited to Dubai for the Award ceremony at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) in March next year where the winner will be announced live.
Further information about top 50 shortlist isavailablehere:http://www.globalteacherprize.org. To join the conversation online follow #TeacherPrize on:https://twitter.com/TeacherPrizeandhttps://www.facebook.com/teacherprize
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The Varkey GEMS Foundation is the philanthropic arm of GEMS Education. Its aim is to impact 100 underprivileged children for every child enrolled in a GEMS school. The HonoraryChair of the Foundation is President Bill Clinton. More information is atwww.varkeygemsfoundation.org
2. The top 50 shortlisted teachers have now been judged by a Prize Committee with the final ten candidates to be announced in February 2015. The Prize Committee includes Vikas Pota, CEO of the Varkey GEMS Foundation; Sir Michael Tomlinson, former UK Chief Inspector of Schools; Ann Mroz, Editor, Times Education Supplement; David Edwards, Dep. General Secretary, Education International and Karen Giles, Headteacher, Barham Primary School, London.
The winner will be chosen from these ten finalists by the Global Teacher Prize Academy and invited to Dubai for the Award ceremony at the Global Education and Skills Forum in March 2015.
The Global Teacher Prize Academy includes prominent names such as Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey; Baroness Martha Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com; the Grammy winning jazz musician and singer Esperanza Spalding; US social activist and educator Geoffrey Canada; Nigerian businessman Jubril Adewale Tinubu, Group CEO, Oando; Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Executive Chairman, Econet Wireless, South Africa; British philosopher David Rodin; Hadeel Ibrahim, the Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and Jiang Xueqin, Vice-Principal, Tsinghua International School, China.
The winner will be paid the prize money in equal installments over ten years, and the Varkey GEMS Foundation will provide the winner with financial counseling. Without compromising their work in the classroom, the winner will be asked to serve as a global ambassador for the Varkey GEMS Foundation, attending public events and speaking in public forums about improving the prestige of the teaching profession. A condition of winning the prize is that the winner remains as a classroom teacher for at least five years.
3. The Prize Committee will look for evidence that applicants for the Varkey GEMS Foundation Global Teacher Prize have met the following criteria:
· Innovative and effective instructional practices and student learning outcomes in the classroom and school.
· Accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide role models for the teachingprofession – whether through charitable or community work, or through sporting, academic or cultural achievement.
· Contributions to public debates on raising the bar of the teaching profession, whether through writing articles, blogs, take part in media and social media campaigns, events or conferences.
· Sharing inspirational education practices with other teachers
· Preparing children to be global citizens in a world where they will encounter people from many different religions, cultures and nationalities.
· Improving access to a quality education for children of all backgrounds.
· Third party recognition of a teacher's achievements in the classroom and beyond. This can include pupils, colleagues, head-teacher as well as members of the wider community – including government, faith organisations and business. Supporting written and/or video testimonials should be provided.
· Encouraging others to join the teaching profession