According to UNESCO, “It is a day to celebrate how teachers are transforming education but also to reflect on the support they need to fully deploy their talent and vocation, and to rethink the way ahead for the profession globally.”
While it’s always a good idea to show appreciation for teachers, UNESCO’s call to action challenges us to go beyond sentiments, with an eye toward lifting up teachers around the world and honoring their pivotal role in the communities they serve.
Let’s take a closer look at what this day is all about.
A day to celebrate how teachers are transforming education
In the spring of 2020, teachers around the globe stepped up to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching practices were transformed seemingly overnight, as in-person lessons gave way to remote or hybrid learning models. It was the teachers themselves who drove this rapid transformation, as we implemented new practices and evaluated the impact of these practices on students.
Now that I’m out of the classroom, I continue to see this same transformative energy among teachers, but through a different lens. For example, I marvel at teachers who, despite being exhausted from their daily work, routinely arrive at a workshop filled with enthusiasm and energy. They’re ready for some new learning and eager to get started. Or, colleagues on Twitter and Facebook who transform teaching practice by sharing their work so generously and creating spaces for educators to grow.
A day to reflect on the support teachers need to fully deploy their talent
Teacher salaries would seem an obvious place to start, but there’s so much more to supporting teachers than offering pay raises. If you’re in the mood for some reflection, here are some ideas to get you thinking.
Administrators or other school leaders might begin by asking themselves, Do I demonstrate respect for teachers by starting and ending meetings on time? Do I seek teacher input when planning PD opportunities? In what ways do I demonstrate appreciation for teachers and staff?
Teachers or instructional assistants may ask themselves, Are there any opportunities for collaboration with other teachers? Are there ways to make supportive connections with students’ families? Do I seek out administrator support when needed?
When reflecting on the need for support, it’s important to note that the next step requires action. Once needs are identified, it’s helpful to set a short-term goal for achieving a desired result.
For example, a PE teacher may observe that some of his English learners (ELs) are not comprehending lessons or using new vocabulary. He makes it his goal, at some point during the first quarter of school, to meet with an EAL teacher to discuss ways to embed English language into PE lessons.
Identifying the support systems we need and intentionally moving toward using them is the catalyst for becoming the transformative educators we’re here to celebrate.
A day to rethink the way ahead for the profession globally
The International Day of the Teacher is also a day for us to look to the future of our profession. With all that we’ve learned through the pandemic, how do we use what we now know to best serve schools, teachers, and students? What practices have served us and which have not?
These questions and others are beautifully framed by Andrea Honigsfeld and colleagues in their book, Equity Insights To Action: Critical Strategies For Teaching Multilingual Learners (2022), which begins with a powerful pause to “…recognize the power of this moment, the interconnectedness of our past, present, and future.” They borrow a portal metaphor from Indian novelist Arundhati Roy (2020), who asserts that pandemics create gateways that move us to the present by forcing us to leave the past behind. Using this concept, the authors ask us to:
“…consider the gateway between the educational world we knew before the pandemic and the next one we are ready to create. We can enter the portal dragging generations of inequities, injustices, prejudices and biases, and deficit-based and damage-centered thinking and actions with us. Or we can walk through the portal ready to imagine and fight for a world of equity in our classrooms, schools, and communities.” (p.1)
Teachers, I hope you’re having an excellent day. Never forget the importance of your work.
References
Honigsfeld, Andrea, et al. “Chapter 1.” From Equity Insights to Action: Critical Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Learners, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2022.
“World Teachers’ Day.” UNESCO.org, https://www.unesco.org/en/days/teachers.
ALL in Education 