Nancie Atwell at The Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine; Naomi Volain at Springfield Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts; and Stephen Ritz at Public School 55 in Bronx, New York, have been named as top ten finalists for the one million dollar Global Teacher Prize, it was announced today.
Widely referred to as the Nobel Prize for teaching, the $1 million Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize, is the largest prize of its kind and will be given to one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.
The three US teachers, along with the other seven finalists, will be flown to Dubai for an award ceremony taking place on Sunday 15th March at the Global Education and Skills Forum. The winner will be presented the prize by Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation, in front of Education Ministers, international education experts and global business leaders.
The winning teacher will be chosen from the ten finalists by a global academy made up of prominent individuals including academy award winning actor Kevin Spacey; social activist Geoffrey Canada; entrepreneur Baroness Martha Lane Fox; Carina Wong, Deputy Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Wendy Kopp, CEO Teach for all; Brett Wigdortz, Founder of Teach first; Grammy award winning musician Esperanza Spalding; Nigerian businessman Jubril Adewale Tinubu; and Vice-Principal, Tsinghua International School, China.
The prize was set up to shine a spotlight on 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 of millions of teachers all over the world. Ultimately, by hoping to raise teacher respect across the world, it aims to play a part in helping recruit and retain the best candidates for the profession.
Since the prize was launched in March 2014 it has received huge global support, including public backing from world leaders Queen Rania of Jordan, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The Italian PM recently invited top 50 shortlisted candidate Daniela Boscolo to speak at his school reform event in Rome. Turkish Education Minister Nabi Avci recently met top 50 shortlisted candidate Dilek Livaneli to better understand her high impact teaching methods. Official congratulatory billboards were also placed at bus stops in her home town of Samsun. Other Education Ministers from around the world have also met and sent messages of support to their respective top 50 shortlisted candidates.
The top ten finalists were narrowed down from the top 50 shortlisted candidates, which were chosen from over 5,000 nominations and 1,300 final applications from 127 countries including the US, UK, Italy, Kenya, Uganda, India, Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina Mexico and Jordan, amongst others.
The top ten finalists are (alphabetically):
- Azizullah Royesh, Marefat High School, Kabul, Afghanistan
- Kiran Bir Sethi, The Riverside School, Ahmedabad, India
- Guy Etienne, College Catts Pressoir, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Jacqueline Jumbe-Kahura, Bofa Primary school, Kilifi, Kenya
- Nancie Atwell, The Center for Teaching and Learning, Edgecomb, Maine, USA
- Naomi Volain, Springfield Central High School, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
- Phalla Neang, Phnom Penh Thmey, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Madenjit Singh, GDI – SOLS 247 School (in Cambodia), Malaysia
- Richard Spencer, Middlesbrough College, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
- Stephen Ritz, Public School 55, Bronx, New York, USA
Nancie Atwell discovered a love of books while bedridden with rheumatic fever as a child. She teaches English as a writing-reading workshop. In her workshop, students choose the subjects they write about and the books they read: an average of 20 pieces of publishable writing and 40 books each year. Her students experience a volume of practice that leads to engagement, stamina, and skill. In 1990, Nancie founded the Center for Teaching and Learning, a non-profit demonstration school created for the purpose of developing and disseminating effective classroom practices. The faculty conducts seminars, publishes professional books and articles, and invites teachers from across the US and other countries to spend a week at the school to experience its methods firsthand. A teacher since 1973, Nancie has written nine books, edited five collections, and delivered hundreds of keynote addresses and workshops about her teaching.
Naomi Volain began her career as a dietician working in community and clinical nutrition. However, she wanted to work closely with teenagers and therefore moved into teaching. She now teaches AP Environmental Science, Botany, Ecology and Biology. Applying to NASA to become a teacher in space, she made the top ten per cent of finalists, which became the NASA Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers. Through this connection she has been able to use NASA resources in her teaching. Her hands-on highly interactive classes focus on environmental literacy and outdoor education. They include many field trips and participation in scientific research programs, making her courses attractive to special education and English Language Learner students as well as connecting inner-city youths with nature. Naomi received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science as well as the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators.
Stephen Ritz teaches in New York City’s South Bronx, the poorest Congressional District in America. His big idea – pioneered in the Bronx where 37% of residents are food-insecure – is to grow food indoors and outdoors, using technology that is low cost, portable, replicable, scalable and modular. His students have installed over 100 gardens in New York City alone, establishing a food production business that helps achieve food security and urban renewal whilst teaching students key skills at the same time. The programme has had health benefits for everyone involved and also donates to and sponsors orphanages, refugees and charities around the world. The new school culture is creating a place where people want to work and learn, and local crime has fallen significantly. Targeted daily attendance is up from 40% to 93%, with the school achieving 100% passing rates on standardised tests, increased graduation rates, and multiple-year jumps on standardised tests in reading and math with multiple cohorts. The program has also created or helped fund 2,200 student jobs. The food production program, which can be replicated anywhere in the world, has gained recognition on local, national and global levels, and Stephen has shared his approach at many conferences.
Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation, said:
“The huge global support we have received for this prize is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormous impact they have on all of our lives. We introduced the prize in order to return teachers to their rightful position – belonging to one of the most respected professions in society.
“The many applications prove that the prize is not only about money; it’s also about unearthing thousands of stories of inspiration”
“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 many conversations around the world 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 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 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”
Further information about the top 10 shortlist is available here: http://www.globalteacherprize.org . To join the conversation online follow #TeacherPrize on: https://twitter.com/TeacherPrize and https://www.facebook.com/teacherprize
