I suspect that almost everyone has a story of an amazing teacher who took the time to give them the extra support they needed in their life. Perhaps they still know that teacher today. Here are a few amazing teachers from around the world!
Maggie MacDonnell teaches in an Inuit community in Salluit. Salluit is a northern community in Quebec Canada. The area she works in has a high suicide rate, so she strives to bring hope to the community. She incorporates a project based on art and therapeutic methods. One project is called Student feeding Students where a group of students create a healthy snack for all the other students. Getting the students involved in the community helps with connection and gives a sense of purpose. A fellow teacher, Ian Cambell, said,” She is really an expert at having a more open learning environment.”
Another project MacDonnell is involved in is The Runners project where students have somewhat of a running club. She says, “When you run by yourself you go fast! When you run with others can go far.” She also says the students she works with are the true northern lights.
Michael Wamaya from Kibera Kenya is a ballet teacher. Micheal had to drop out of school when he was young due to financial hardship. However, he had a chance audition with a visiting Kenya Performance group that set him on a path to live in Nairobi and learn dance! He now teaches ballet to children and he’s very good at it. One community member said, “If you take your kids to Mike there is some future in that kid.” One parent has noticed how her daughter is more focused and organized since being in Mike’s class.
Mike believes ballet helps the children get their voice due to the confidence acquired through ballet training. Leonard Wawire, headmaster at valley View Academy, says that Mike has helped make education available to everyone in the area!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAufiNM3Aus
Salima Begum is from Pakistan. She received an education from a two-room private school with very little resources. That did not impede her love of learning!
Salima says,” Education is abroad concept that teaches a child humility, harmony, and love for others.”
Before Salima girls could not complete their education due to cultural roadblocks. Salima met with the community to create a solution for a way for girls to continue their education.
One problem in the community was the accumulation of garbage and debris in the streets. By working with the students and allowing them to come up with creative solutions they began creating compost and then fertilizer from the waste.
The classes are activity based. One student says, “’ Ma’ams classes are always fun and interesting, never boring, time flies by” Another says,” My parents brought me into the world, but my teacher has lifted me up and made me reach for the skies”
Tracy-Ann Hall is from Spanish Town Jamaica. She teaches automotive technology at Jonathan Grande High School. Most students are from the low-income bracket. Once they leave high school most students go directly to work. Once they have taken the automotive technology course they will be prepared to work for an established automotive business or begin one of their own. Hall acknowledges that there are students with different learning styles. She incorporates music in the class as well as field trips
She has lunchtime instructions where they catch up on current affairs. She tries to prepare them with skills that will get them ahead in life.
Daphne Clayton, the Chair of Governors, says “Here is a woman in a man’s world but
knows exactly what she was doing!”
Marie-Christine Ghanbari Jahromi majored in mathematics and sports at the University of Munster. She received the Future leader award at Africa’s Go FPEP in 2014. She operates a collaborative sports project helping students build self-esteem. She teaches students that keeping fit strengthens bodies and minds.
She works with refugee children in groups with the German students helping them learn different cultures and helps the refugee children integrate more easily into German society. This also makes it easier for them to learn faster.
Boya Yang is in Cumming China with a background in teaching as well as psychology.
Both parents were teachers. She uses a technique where she incorporates games so that students will find it easier to participate. She also makes sure to give time to each student individually. She feels in general that China’s education system focusses too much on exams. She hopes to work with other teachers to explore the psychological aspect of learning. She incorporates art drama and music. If the kids seem interested in something she sees that as an opportunity to incorporate learning alongside that interest. She even incorporates parents in the learning process. They too have been learning a lot!
Yang says she loves having the freedom to be innovative in her job!
There are many qualities that make a great teacher and from the examples here observation an innovation as well as focusing on each students learning style and needs plays a large part in being a successful and admired teacher. One exceptional teacher I remember is a Western Civilizations teacher in community college who was also head of the drama department. His classes were like one man shows where he acted out the history lesson with a powerful stage presence. It’s hard not to learn history when it is dramatized right before you!
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/these-10-inspirational-teachers-are-transforming-e/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDpF5cFmpvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADA7CeUjKTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADA7CeUjKTE