Hugh Jackman calls teachers The Real Superheroes as he announces the final 10 for $1million Global Teacher Prize 2019

The top 10 finalists for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2019 were announced today by actor, singer, and producer Hugh Jackman at globalteacherprize.org. Now in its fifth year, the US$1 million award is the largest prize of its kind and awarded under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

In a special video message announcing the top ten finalists, the Wolverine and Greatest Showman star Hugh Jackman said: “I would like to give special thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai under whose continued patronage the Global Teacher Prize has become a shining beacon to teachers around the world.”

He also spoke fondly and with affection of the acting teacher who helped him raise his game.

The 10 finalists for the Global Teacher Prize 2019 are:

• Andrew Moffat MBE, a Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) teacher from Parkfield Community School, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom;
• Daisy Mertens, an all subjects teacher at community-based school De Vuurvogel, Helmond, Netherlands;
• Débora Garofalo a Technologies for Learning teacher at EMEF Almirante Ary Parreiras, São Paulo, Brazil;
• Hidekazu Shoto, an English language and ICT teacher at Ritsumeikan Primary School, Kyoto, Japan;
• Martin Salvetti Head of Automative Studies and Adult Professional Training, at EEST N°5 "2 de Abril" Temperley, Temperley, Buenos Aires, Argentina;
• Melissa Salguero, a Music teacher at P.S.48 Joseph R Drake elementary school, the Bronx, New York, United States;
• Peter Tabichi, a Maths and Physics teacher at Keriko Secondary School, Pwani Village, Nakuru, Kenya;
• Swaroop Rawal, a Life Skills teacher, at Lavad Primary School, Gujarat, India;
• Vladimer Apkhazava, a Civic Education teacher at Chibati Public School, Tbilisi, Georgia,
• Yasodai Selvakumaran a history and society and culture teacher, at Rooty Hill High School, New South Wales, Australia.

Hugh Jackman said:

“When I was a kid there were lots of superheroes that I wanted to be. But I can tell you right now, from where I stand, with all my experience, the real superheroes are teachers – they’re the ones that change the world.

“My favourite uncle was a teacher, my sister’s a teacher, my brother’s a teacher, and I have always felt the most important job in the world is teachers. My hope for every single person on the planet is that you have at least one.

“I think of Lisle Jones who was the most influential acting teacher I ever had. Prior to Lisle I could only get to a certain point. He used to say to me things like “You’re standing outside the character.” He said “You’re good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine, it’s OK. But what you need to do is to let go and trust.”

“As someone like me who did quite like to control things, that was transformative. And there was a moment for me about 18 months into my course – so this is the patience of a teacher – for 18 months he had to watch me being OK, maybe.

“And I remember this one monologue that I had to give and all of a sudden for me it felt completely different. I felt inside the character. And halfway through – it was a big audience, it was in a theatre – that teacher and his big booming voice, he stood up, and in the dark I just heard this “YES! Finally.” 

“All of us go through insecurity and doubt, trepidation, along this journey of life, and those teachers that see the best in us and are patient enough to allow us to grow into that, they are like gold.”

Hugh Jackman added:

“And I would like to give special thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai under whose continued patronage the Global Teacher Prize has become a shining beacon to teachers around the world.

“I would also like to thank Sunny Varkey and the Varkey Foundation for giving us such a powerful celebration of the work of teachers and their commitment to education throughout the world”.

“Since the launch of the Global Teacher Prize in Dubai UAE just five years ago it has gone on to inspire over 30 national teacher prizes, unearthing thousands of stories of heroes that have transformed young people’s lives.

“To our 10 finalists and to every dedicated teacher around the world – thank you.”  

The video can be viewed and downloaded here.

The finalists have been selected from over 10,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries around the world. Separate to this, there have also been tens of thousands of applications for the 33 national Teacher Prizes that have been inspired by the Global Teacher Prize. The winners of each National Teacher Prize were also put forward for consideration when the top 50 shortlist for this year’s global prize was decided.

The Global Teacher Prize was set up to recognize one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society. In this way the prize hopes to bring to life the exceptional work of millions of teachers all over the world. 

The top 10 have been narrowed down from a top 50 shortlist that was announced in December 2018. By highlighting their stories the Varkey Foundation hopes that the public will be able to join in passionate debates about the importance of teachers. The winner will be announced at the Global Education & Skills Forum in Dubai on Sunday 24 March 2019.

On the eve of the Global Teacher Prize ceremony, the Varkey Foundation will hold ‘The Assembly: A Global Teacher Prize Concert’ as a joyful ‘thank you’ to teachers all around the world for the unsung work they do every day. On Saturday 23^rd March ten thousand people are expected to join Little Mix, who are headlining the event, together with Rita Ora and Liam Payne, at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre in paying tribute to one of the world’s most important professions

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation and the Global Teacher Prize, said:

“I want to congratulate the top 10 finalists who have made it through from such a huge number of talented and dedicated teachers. I hope their stories will inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and also shine a powerful spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over the world every day.

“The thousands of nominations and applications we received from every corner of the planet is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormous impact they have on all of our lives”.

The original top 50 shortlisted teachers were narrowed down to ten finalists by a Prize Committee. The winner will be chosen from this 10 by the Global Teacher Prize Academy. All 10 finalists will be invited to Dubai for the Award ceremony at the Global Education & Skills Forum (GESF) on Sunday 24 March, where the winner will be announced live on stage in a red carpet gala event.

Further information about the top 10 finalists will be available from Thursday 21 February here: http://www.globalteacherprize.org.

To join the conversation online follow #TeachersMatter on: https://twitter.com/TeacherPrize and https://www.facebook.com/teacherprize. 

-Ends-

• The Varkey Foundation believes every child deserves a vibrant, stimulating learning environment that awakens and supports their full potential. We believe nothing is more important to achieving this than the passion and quality of teachers. We founded the Global Teacher Prize to shine a spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over the world and we continue to play a leading role in influencing education debates on the status of teachers around the world. https://www.varkeyfoundation.org
• The Top 50 shortlisted teachers were narrowed down to the final Top 10 teachers by a Prize Committee. The winner will then be chosen from these Top 10 finalists by the Global Teacher Prize Academy. The Prize Committee and the Academy look for evidence that applicants for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize meet the following criteria: 

• 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 Global Teacher Prize Academy includes prominent names such as Wendy Kopp, co-founder and CEO of Teach for All; Brett Wigdortz, founder of Teach First, James E Ryan, Dean and Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States, Jeffrey D. Sachs, world-renowned professor of economics and special advisor to the UN and Lewis Pugh, the only person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world. https://www.globalteacherprize.org/about-the-global-teacher-prize/the-judging-academy/
• The Global Teacher Prize winner will be paid the prize money in equal installments over ten years, and the Varkey 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 Foundation, attending public events and speaking in public forums about improving the prestige of the teaching profession.
• 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 and plan to remain in the profession for the next 5 years. It is open to teachers in every kind of school and, subject to local laws, in every country in the world. Applications for the 2019 prize opened on Wednesday 6 June 2018 and closed on 23 September 2018 with teachers able to apply in English, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.
• PwC will be responsible for ensuring that the balloting process is fair and accurate.  Criminal record and other background checks will be conducted on the shortlisted candidates. Top ten finalists from Global Teacher Prize 2018 could not apply for Global Teacher Prize 2019.
• The Global Teacher Prize is part of the Varkey Foundation’s long-standing commitment to improve the status of teachers.  In November 2013, the foundation published the Global 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 to enter the teaching profession. In November 2018 the Varkey Foundation revisited the theme and widened its scope, polling over 40,000 people in 35 countries. The Global Teacher Status Index 2018 showed for the first time a direct link between teacher status and pupil performance as measured by PISA scores. Countries with higher teacher status are more likely to record higher PISA scores, the report demonstrated, showing high teacher status can lead to greater student outcomes in a country. The full Global Teacher Status Indexes can be found at:

https://www.varkeyfoundation.org/teacherindex 

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© Press Release 2019