World Teacher’s Day – What does it mean for UK teachers?

World Teacher’s Day was created in 1994 and is celebrated around the globe. It is an opportunity to reflect on the role teachers play in shaping society. This year’s theme is “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers”, which addresses the output of the UN’s Transforming Education Summit held in September.

Among other things, the summit called for:

• Education to be considered a human right.
• Schools to be inclusive, safe, and healthy
• Education to promote sustainable development and respect and appreciate human diversity, gender equality, and human rights. 
• Digital teaching and learning resources to be used to contribute more to the transformation and democratization of education.
• The public financing of education is the most efficient and socially responsible investment countries can make. 
• Teachers need the conditions, wages, resources, autonomy, and respect they deserve to be able to transform education.

In the UK, we can perhaps take some of these things for granted. We have near-universal education, state-funded schools, access to technology and laws guaranteeing equality rights, not all of which is true of some of the 100 nations that celebrate World Teacher’s Day. 

However, in the UK, do we provide teachers with the conditions, wages, resources, autonomy, and respect they deserve to be able to transform education? It is debatable (as a cursory glance at any education section of any newspaper will prove). Teaching has never been an easy job or one without more than its fair share of frustrations, but it is a job that is vital for the well-being of society and, therefore, should command the respect of everyone in the country. 

So, at Teaching Personnel, we are proud to celebrate World Teacher’s Day and say a heartfelt thank you to all the teachers who have helped us and our children learn and grow. At Teaching Personnel, the overwhelming importance of education drives everything we do. We equip teachers with the skills they need to teach effectively and find work cultivating the next generation in classrooms across the country. 

We are proud to be supporting a brighter future.  If you are an educator who wants to make a difference in children’s lives and help change the world for the better, click here to find your next role.