Global Teacher Prize: A Living Reflection of the TeacherFIRE® Revolution
The Global Teacher Prize was founded by the Varkey Foundation, a UK-based education charity established by education philanthropist Sunny Varkey. The idea emerged from a growing concern: while teachers were universally acknowledged as essential to national development, their status, morale and public recognition were steadily declining in many parts of the world.
Research commissioned by the Foundation revealed a troubling pattern. In several countries, teaching was no longer seen as an aspirational profession, despite its undeniable influence on economic growth, social stability and innovation. The Global Teacher Prize was conceived as a bold response to this challenge.
The initiative was officially launched in 2014 at the Global Education and Skills Forum, a gathering of world leaders, policymakers and education experts. The first prize was awarded in 2015, marking the beginning of a new global platform dedicated solely to celebrating teaching excellence.
A Clear Mission: Elevating the Teaching Profession
At its core, the Global Teacher Prize exists to achieve three interconnected goals:
- Celebrate outstanding teachers who go beyond routine instruction to transform lives.
- Raise the status of teaching globally, positioning educators as nation builders and community leaders.
- Inspire policy reform and public investment by spotlighting what is possible when teachers are supported and empowered.
Unlike awards that focus narrowly on academic results, the Global Teacher Prize takes a holistic view of teaching. It recognises educators who demonstrate innovation, leadership, inclusion, resilience and deep commitment to their learners, often in the most challenging circumstances.
How the Global Teacher Prize Works
Open to Teachers Worldwide: The prize is open to practising teachers from around the world, working in public, private, community or alternative schools. Teachers may be self-nominated or nominated by students, parents, colleagues or members of the public.
Each year, the programme receives tens of thousands of applications and nominations from over 170 countries, reflecting its growing credibility and global reach.
A Rigorous Selection Process: The evaluation process unfolds in several stages:
- Applications are reviewed to identify teachers who demonstrate exceptional classroom practice, innovation, leadership and community impact.
- A Top 50 shortlist is announced, representing educators from diverse cultural, economic and geographic contexts.
- From this group, a Top 10 finalists is selected following a deeper assessment and interviews.
- The final winner is chosen by the Global Teacher Prize Academy, an independent body made up of education experts, academics, policymakers, journalists and public figures.
The winner is announced at a major international event, often in partnership with global education forums, ensuring worldwide visibility for the profession.
The Prize: Recognition That Goes Beyond Money: While the USD $1 million award captures global attention, the true value of the Global Teacher Prize lies in what follows.
Winners and finalists become influential voices in education, using their platforms to:
- Advocate for education reform
- Mentor other teachers
- Launch social impact projects
- Influence national and international education policy
Many winners have chosen to reinvest their prize money into their schools, communities or teacher development initiatives, reinforcing the message that teaching is fundamentally an act of service.
Global Teacher Prize Winners (2015–2025)
Since the inaugural award in 2015, the Global Teacher Prize has honoured educators whose work has reshaped classrooms, communities and national education conversations. Below is the complete list of Global Teacher Prize winners from inception to 2025:
- 2015 – Nancie Atwell (United States)
- 2016 – Hanan Al Hroub (Palestine)
- 2017 – Maggie MacDonnell (Canada)
- 2018 – Andria Zafirakou (United Kingdom)
- 2019 – Peter Tabichi (Kenya)
- 2020 – Ranjitsinh Disale (India)
- 2021 – Keishia Thorpe (United States)
- 2023 – Sister Zeph (Pakistan)
- 2025 – Mansour Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia)
These winners reflect the evolving focus of the Global Teacher Prize: teaching that combines academic excellence with compassion, innovation and social impact.
Global Influence and Long-Term Impact
Aside from awarding winners, this prize has sparked conversations on education development beyond the classroom buildings and equipment worldwide and has led to;
Inspiring National Teacher Awards
One of the prize’s most significant legacies is its influence on the creation of national and regional teacher awards in dozens of countries. These programmes extend recognition to local educators, ensuring that the celebration of teaching excellence is not limited to a single global winner.
Strengthening a Global Community of Educators
The prize has fostered a growing international network of teachers who collaborate, share best practices and support one another across borders. This community continues to amplify teacher voices in global education debates.
Shifting Public Perception
By placing teachers on global stages alongside heads of state and industry leaders, the Global Teacher Prize has helped reposition teaching as a profession of prestige, leadership and societal importance.
Spotlight on the Current Top 10 Finalists: Teaching Excellence in Action
The current Top 10 finalists reflect the diversity, resilience and innovation that define great teaching today. They come from different continents, teach in vastly different formats and settings, and serve learners facing unique challenges, yet they are united by one common thread: an unwavering commitment to their students. Together, they demonstrate that impactful teaching is not limited by geography, resources or systems, but driven by purpose, skill and heart. Among these finalists is a renowned Nigerian teacher, Adeola Olufunke Akinsulure.
Adeola Olufunke Akinsulure: Nigeria on the Global Stage
Standing prominently among this year’s Top 10 is Adeola Olufunke Akinsulure, a biology teacher at Omole Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, Lagos State. Her selection places Nigeria firmly on the global education map and highlights the depth of talent within the country’s public school system.
Adeola’s journey into global recognition is rooted in years of consistent classroom innovation. Working in a school faced with overcrowding, limited infrastructure and irregular power supply, she refused to accept low expectations as normal. Instead, she designed learning experiences that made science engaging, practical and accessible for every learner. Her commitment to teacher development is equally far‑reaching. Over the years, Adeola has trained tens of thousands of teachers across Nigeria in creative, low‑cost instructional strategies, multiplying her impact far beyond her own classroom. This leadership has earned her recognition both nationally and internationally.
Notably, before becoming a Global Teacher Prize finalist, Adeola was a finalist in the Maltina Teacher of the Year Awards, Nigeria’s foremost platform for recognising teaching excellence. That national recognition served as a powerful springboard, affirming her work at home before it captured global attention. Her progression from the Maltina Teacher of the Year stage to the Global Teacher Prize Top 10 illustrates how local excellence can rise to global relevance.
Read more about her story here
How Celebrating Teachers Reinforces the Core Philosophy of the TeacherFIRE® Revolution
At the centre of our work is a clear and unwavering belief which says the foremost duty of any education system is the safeguarding and protection of children. Teachers are at the forefront of this duty. We argue that there is a close connection between children’s rights and teachers’ rights. Teachers’ ability to protect, nurture, and care for the children entrusted to them is sometimes directly impacted by how society views and treats them.
While a small number of individuals are driven purely by inner conviction, the reality is that long-term motivation for most people does not emerge spontaneously or survive indefinitely without reinforcement. It is cultivated through deliberate immersion in a shared culture, and culture itself requires time, consistency, and reinforcement to take root. Even then, not everyone will fully absorb it. Similarly, incentives and rewards on their own rarely produce lasting behavioural change unless they are supported by an established and deeply embedded value system.
This is why two complementary pathways must operate simultaneously.
First, there must be external motivation, fair and dignified compensation, public recognition, and credible honours such as the Global Teacher of the Year prize and similar initiatives.
Second, there must be intentional culture-building: the sustained embedding of Child Safeguarding and Protection as a collective mission. This is particularly critical in Nigeria and globally, where the teaching profession has long been undervalued, leading many teachers, understandably, to assess their self-worth through the lens of years of systemic neglect.
It is against this backdrop that we celebrate the Global Teacher Prize for its consistent commitment to recognising teachers across the globe. Through this, the award strengthens teachers’ dedication to children, upholding children’s best interests, defending their rights, ensuring their protection, and preserving the essence of childhood.
This is the essence of genuine culture formation. It is beyond compliance, which can easily slip into disregard once enforcement weakens or resorts to fear if over-enforced. Non-compliance is often rooted in carelessness or lack of awareness, while compliance is frequently motivated by fear of sanctions. Culture, however, is sustained by meaning, purpose, and a shared sense of calling. Enduring safeguarding, therefore, must be cultural in nature rather than merely procedural or legalistic.
Why This Is Especially Important Now
The Global Teacher Award goes beyond celebrating outstanding individuals; it elevates the status of teaching, reshapes public perception of the profession, and inspires educators to teach with purpose, integrity, and compassion.
In this sense, the award embodies the TeacherFIRE® Revolution 2025 vision: when teachers are valued, empowered, and mission-driven, children thrive, and nations move forward.
In honouring teachers, the Global Teacher Prize ultimately honours the millions of children whose lives are shaped, daily and quietly, by dedicated educators across the world.
