Applications and nominations for the ‘Global Teacher Prize 2027’ are officially open: educators who are transforming the world

The Varkey Foundation has officially opened applications for the Global Teacher Prize 2027, an initiative which, for over a decade, has recognised the mission and dedication of educators who are transforming the world and committed to the future of children and young people.

“When Sunny Varkey launched the Global Teacher Prize in 2014, the idea was simple: find the best teacher in the world and give them US$1 million. Since Nancie Atwell became the first winner in 2015, the ‘Nobel Prize for Teaching’ has grown into the largest award of its kind, drawing tens of thousands of nominations from well over a hundred countries,” reads the competition’s website.

Recognising excellence in learning environments has been one of the principles and eligibility criteria. “Since its launch, the Prize has centred on the classroom teacher: someone teaching children face-to-face, for a minimum number of hours per week, with the plans to stay in the profession. That description still sits at the heart of the Prize. The updated criteria recognise that, alongside these teachers, exceptional educators are making a profound impact in an increasingly diverse range of learning environments.” 

In this regard, this year’s edition of the Prize includes nominations for digital educators who reach groups of learners through videos or other published formats, as well as the founders and leaders of educational programmes — individuals whose role is to design and manage structured learning for children, often through networks of centres, facilitators or volunteers across multiple learning environments. Teachers working in refugee education and other non-formal settings are now also explicitly included.

“The judging criteria have been adjusted to match,” explain the organisers. Consequently, “evidence of impact can now come from platform data or independent testimony, not only classroom assessments”. Furthermore, “recognition can come from the institutions and learning communities a digital educator works within, not only from schools. And a criterion on global citizenship has been expanded to include the harder, more urgent skill of resolving conflict, not just being comfortable with difference”.

Lasallian teachers worldwide are also eligible to apply! From those carrying out their educational mission in schools, community environments and digital platforms, to those committed to the education of migrants and refugees and in out-of-school settings, overcoming obstacles to make quality education possible even in geographical and existential peripheries, and amongst the most impoverished.

Lasallian educators, to submit your application for the Global Teacher Prize, click here. Find out about the eligibility criteria here.

If you know a teacher who deserves this recognition, you can nominate them: click here