Deadline: 7-May-23

The Global Teacher Prize 2023 is now open to currently working teachers who teach children that are in compulsory schooling, or are between the ages of five and eighteen.

The Global Teacher Prize serves to underline the importance of educators and the fact that, throughout the world, their efforts deserve to be recognised and celebrated. It seeks to acknowledge the impacts of the very best teachers – not only on their students but on the communities around them.

Why Teachers?

• An inadequate education is a major factor behind the social, political, economic and health issues faced by the world today. They believe education has the power to reduce poverty, prejudice and conflict.
• Teachers work tirelessly to provide an education for children around the world so the status of teachers is critically important to the global future. Teacher status has a significant impact on recruitment, retention, job satisfaction and performance.

Global Teacher Prize: The Impact

• They believe the Global Teacher Prize is making a real difference to the profession and having a very positive effect at both a grassroots level and on the global stage.
• In the prize’s inaugural year, there were over 5,000 entries from 127 countries which generated a huge amount of media interest. Reporting around the world has been tremendously supportive of the shortlisted teachers while a host of high profile endorsers have included His Holiness Pope Francis, Prince William, Prince Harry, Stephen Hawking, Hugh Jackman and Bill Gates who have been very vocal in their support.
• Since 2014, the Global Teacher Prize has gone from strength to strength, with the 2021 Prize bringing in over 8,000 applications and nominations. The Prize has inspired over 40 National Teacher Prizes to recognise and celebrate teachers at country level.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Prize is open to currently working teachers who teach children that are in compulsory schooling, or are between the ages of five and eighteen. Teachers who teach children age 4+ in an Early Years government-recognised curriculum are also eligible, as are teachers who teach on a part-time basis, and teachers of online courses.
• Teachers must spend at least 10 hours per week teaching children face-to-face, and plan to remain in the teaching profession for the next 5 years. The Prize is open to teachers in every kind of school and, subject to local laws, in every country in the world.

Criteria

• Applicants for the Global Teacher Prize will be judged on a rigorous set of criteria to identify an extraordinary teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession. The Academy will look for evidence of a combination of:
  • Employing effective instructional practices that are replicable and scalable to influence the quality of education globally.
  • Employing innovative instructional practices that address the particular challenges of the school, community or country and which have shown sufficient evidence to suggest they could be effective in addressing such challenges in a new way.
  • Achieving demonstrable student learning outcomes in the classroom.
  • Impact in the community beyond the classroom that provide unique and distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession and others.
  • Helping children become global citizens through providing them with a values-based education that equips them for a world where they will potentially live, work and socialise with people from many different nationalities, cultures and religions.
  • Improving the teaching profession through helping to raise the bar of teaching, sharing best practice, and helping colleagues overcome any challenges they face in their school.
  • Teacher recognition from governments, national teaching organisations, head-teachers, colleagues, members of the wider community or pupils.
• The winner will be chosen by the prominent Global Teacher Prize Academy made up of head-teachers, educational experts, commentators, journalists, public officials, tech entrepreneurs, company directors and scientists from around the world.

For more information, visit Varkey Foundation.