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Support teachers as they nurture global citizens

Keeping pace with the technological developments and global changes, it is time schools started training students to become global citizens.

A great teacher provides a great education. He or she is a leader who leads the classroom and students through life. In fact, a teacher is the force that drives the educational system. In addition to being a resource person who satisfies students' curiosity, he or she is also a mentor and a role model. For, students often pattern their own behaviour and ethics to match their instructor. It takes just one among them to make a difference to a student, the classroom, the school and the society at large. And the aim of the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize is to find that one outstanding teacher, the innovative and caring person who has made an impact on students this past year. The $1m award could be an encouragement as far as that person is concerned. Yet it underlines the importance of educators and the fact that their efforts deserve to be recognised and celebrated throughout the world.
Keeping pace with the technological developments and global changes, it is time schools started training students to become global citizens. And the Global Teacher Prize will go a long way in creating such a generation. For, teachers' realisation that they are part of humanity and not just of a region or a country will help encourage the same perception among students. Creating global citizens would entail discussions on empathy, ethnicity, gender identities, and knowledge of current world affairs and challenges. But a global citizen is first a citizen in his own school, community, and country. Teachers, and through them schools, should accept this and provide students the opportunity to voice their opinion in their schools where they are treated as responsible human beings. Delivering classes that are more engaging and providing space for the student to develop higher order thinking skills is the need of the hour. The aim of education is to make a positive difference in the lives of young people. And it is the duty of the teacher to motivate students with commitment to help them develop their talent and intellect.