Global Education and Skills Forum

A week ago, I had the unique opportunity to attend the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai. The forum was run by The Varkey Foundation, whose message is "Changing Lives through Education."  Sonny Varkey, owner, believes in a "great teacher for every child."  And he truly works to get that message through.

In 2015, I was a top 50 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize.  I then became an ambassador for the Global Teacher Prize, although I will be the first to admit, I have been a lousy ambassador.  I wasn't really sure of the Varkey Foundation, feeling that what they really wanted was media coverage for their organization. I have since learned differently.

You see, the Varkey Foundation believes that teachers are important, they matter.  They want the world to know how important teachers are to the lives of children and the success of our world.  So they set up this Global Teacher Prize to be like winning the Nobel Peace Prize.  The award ceremony and conference were beyond amazing - top speakers, heads of state and country, famous media people - all became part of the show.  And all there to honor teachers.  Here are some of my exciting events throughout my four days of the conference.

1. I got to speak with, work with, hang out with, laugh with some of the most amazing teachers from around the world.  There were 120 finalists at the summit preceding the conference, teachers who were already chosen as the best in the world, who were brought to Dubai to do powerful work around helping other teachers become Global Teachers.  I met teachers who have started schools in areas where most children don't go to school.  I met teachers who are using every tool they know to bring different cultures into their students' world.  I met teachers who work in the most remote areas of the world and teachers who work in the busiest cities in the world.  And all of these teachers are in a group I am honored to be part of.  I hope to grow up to be just like them someday.

2. I made new friends.  Like Janet Hayward, from Wales, who is me with an accent.  She is "lovely."  Like Ray Chambers, one of the top ten finalists, from the UK, who is the tallest person I have ever known and has the funnest wife ever.  Like Andrews Nchessie, from Malawi, who speaks Chichewan, a language used in Laugh with the Moon, which I am reading to my fifth graders.  Like Santhi Karamcheti, from Bangalore, who runs a school for children with special needs so they don't have to stay home and not receive an education.  Like Mareike Ha from Germany, who pushed me right out of my comfort zone. Like, like, like.  So many to think about. So many to connect with.  My life has changed for meeting all of these amazing people.

3. I heard talks from Thomas Friedman, Bear Grylls, Sudhguru, girls who escaped from the Boko Haram, Andreas Schleicher, Arne Duncan, Geoffrey Canada, etc.  So many great speakers.  So much to learn and think about.

4. The food was incredible.  The little serving dishes they used to pass around food was so cute.  The gold covered chocolate strawberries were over the top, The Michelin star Italian chef who ran the Italian Soiree night gave us all amazingly tasty food.  It never seemed to end.  We had breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, dessert at every course.  Whew.  I wanted to try everything and I think I did.

5. The celebration of teachers was spectacular.  The night of the award ceremony, we began by being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli.  Then Bear Grylls parachuted onto the beach and ran onto the stage to introduce the astronaut from the International Space Station who, through video, revealed the winner. Congratulations to Maggie MacDonnell.  Then we were walked out onto the red carpet that was lined with children and their parents chanting,"Teachers Matter." They were high fiving us and taking selfies with us.  I never felt so appreciated. The night ended with an amazing band and dj playing great music while we ate and ate and ate.  

This was truly the highlight of the week.  Here in America, teachers are so vilified, so hated.  To be appreciated with such verve was too much to handle.  I cried my way through the red carpet.

I might never have an experience like this again.  But I am proud to be part of the ambassador program.  The Varkey Foundation does amazing things for children around the world.  And there really are people in the world who think teachers are important.  It's easy to forget that back home.

What it Means to be a Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize - to me

In September, during a conversation with My Global Friends, Toni Barton asked if anyone had received an email about The Global Teacher Prize.  After the rest of us said no, she told us more about it.  We laughed about the million dollar prize, read the requirements, and discussed whether or not we should enter.  Everyone else said they were too busy.  I said I would do it and, if I won, I would take them all on a trip around the world to meet each other face to face. (These really are, after all, global friends, from all around the world.)

So I applied and, lo and behold, I became a finalist: one of 50.  I was thrilled.  Of course, I didn't find out right away since...well this is my life we are talking about...emails never went through.  But, thanks to Michael Soskil, another finalist and a friend, I found out, got in touch with the Varkey Gems foundation, and am now anxiously waiting to see if I am one of ten finalists to go to Dubai for the award ceremony.  And, once I looked into it more, I could see how amazing it really was to become a finalist.  The other 49 educators are incredible people doing valuable things with children.  I am humbled to be on the list.

As more time went on, more emails came (the email situation was finally straightened out).  One of the email senders is a publicist looking for any publicity we might get surrounding this prize.  I was confused.  How would anyone even know we were finalists?  Do we need to promote this ourselves?  How would I do that?  I did post it on my network and got the standard congratulations from my friends but...what else is expected?  And then we started getting emails showing the publicity others were getting.  Parties from parents and kids, honors from mayors and city counsel members, awards from board members and administration, interviews on local television stations and in newspapers...the list goes on.  

Back to me and my life.  I couldn't even imagine that kind of publicity, much less how I would get it.  You see, I am just a teacher.  I know how much so many of my friends hate when I say that but it is true.  Everything I do, I do because I am a teacher.  I knock down the walls of my classroom because my students deserve to learn about other cultures and meet people different from themselves.  I run projects because my students learn best this way and are more engaged when other children in other classes are involved.  I run twitter chats and webinars because I love teaching other teachers about how to engage and encourage children to be the best they can be always.  I am a teacher.  No, I am a TEACHER.  And I love what I do...most of the time.

But this Global Teacher Prize has made me uncomfortable with that title.  You see, I live in a world where being a teacher is nothing to be proud of.  I grew up as a child of equal rights.  Women were making incredible strides in all fields and I, as I was reminded often, could be anything.  I didn't have to be just a teacher, nurse, or secretary if I wanted to work outside the house.  And still I became a teacher.  That was a disappointment to my family.

I live on Long Island in New York.  Our local paper is Newsday.  I won't purchase the paper, have stopped using it in school, and really believe all teachers should stop buying it.  All they do is attack teachers.  So every day, most Long Islanders get Newsday and read:

Nothing positive, ever.  Even the one about the best and worst teachers focused on the worst.  The Huffington Post even wrote about it:

And our state government isn't much better.  

Here in New York, public school teachers have been fighting for years with the government.  Tax Caps set at 2% makes it impossible to keep things even at status quo.  Inflation is greater than that.  So we cut teachers and programs, increase class size, fight for contracts, and get lots of anger from the public who loves the tax cap, so they don't have to pay as much.

This climate is not conducive to getting publicity for an award, even one as monumental as The Global Teacher Prize.  So what about just my little local community, my school?  Well, I told my kids, who cheered and that was it.  I told my principal who said congratulations and that was it.  I sent an email to my assistant superintendent, who is new as of January 1st.  She congratulated me.  My colleagues at work say congratulations and go on with their day.  And I keep reading about the amazing publicity my fellow finalists are getting.

I know this sounds like sour grapes.  And maybe, in a small way, it is.  I am so grateful to be recognized for doing something I so strongly believe in.  I am honored to have been made a finalist.  I hope I get chosen to go to Dubai, since, as much as I believe in globalizing my classroom, I am not a global traveler.  And I am so grateful that I get to go into my classroom every day and have fun teaching and learning with my fifth graders.  But I do wish I could get just one little positive article, one little interview, one cupcake...one person who believes I deserve to be recognized.  I spend all my time living in an environment where we fight just to be teachers.

I am just a TEACHER.  I am proud of being just a TEACHER.  Whether I win or not, I will still be proud to be just a TEACHER.  I will continue to do what I do because I love what I do, with or without acknowledgement.  And I will learn that pride in myself is enough for me. I will, I will, I will.