Recognizing Teachers for Their Efforts in Education

Everyone has a teacher who helped them develop many positive traits and learn things that shaped them into who they are today. Basically, recognizing teacher accomplishments means saying thank you to the people who make us better. To encourage expertise in academic settings, it’s critical to have award mechanisms in place which help reward the above-and-beyond efforts of educators.

The importance of recognizing teachers

To honor the launch of Premier’s Awards for Teaching Excellence, Dalton McGuinty wrote, “Think about the moments a great teacher can author:

• The moment a boy realizes he can read a book.
• The moment a girl realizes she can master math.
• The feeling of winning a race for the first time – or just the feeling of being in the race for the first time.”

Indeed, with the influence that teachers have over our lives, recognizing teacher accomplishments is a necessity. A good reward system helps a school build a growth-centered environment, track the individual progress of educators, and keep them inspired for dynamic growth and new achievements.

Recognition criteria

Recognizing teachers as professionals can be achieved based on specific sets of criteria. Here’s how you can organize the process of awards:

• Based on context. Depending on the environment in which the teaching takes place, you can recognize academic efforts in relation to historic, social, geographic, or institutional factors.
• Based on expertise. Rewards based on expertise should basically reflect how the teaching practices relate to the development of the right skills and knowledge. This depends on the support of the disciplinary depth, the methods of instruction, and the quality of communication with students.
• Based on students. The efficacy of teaching is pretty much dependent on who your students are. You can launch a rewards program honouring the ability to pick the right instructional methods for every learner individually.

• Based on innovation. Progressive teaching methods and alternative learning determine how innovative a school is. Build the foundation for teacher rewards based on innovative learning methods to help educators keep pace with advancements in their fields.

How to recognize and reward teachers

To choose the right setup for your teaching rewards program, consider the character of the school environment and the preferred modes of work. For educational establishments that focus on a teamwork, you can implement a team recognition program in which awards are assigned based on the effort of the whole team. To motivate staff to keep an eye open for their colleagues’ exceptional performances, build an engaging peer recognition or peer guidance framework. The latter can be of great advantage in terms of building an expertise sharing space where teachers can learn from each other. Lastly, you can honor individual accomplishments in multiple ways from simple appreciation notes to public teaching award ceremonies.

How to recognize a great teacher through awards

Focusing on individual achievement recognition, we’ve collected some creative ideas for awards your staff will love, along with practical examples:

Teacher scholarships

Education is not simply about fostering student expertise in exchange programs; awarding teachers with scholarships and grants is equally important to maintain a progressive learning environment. Following the example of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards, you can set up an awards program that rewards the special contributions of teachers to progressive educational standards. For the Fulbright, winners get the chance to expand their professionalism internationally by participating in two, six week projects abroad.

Policy making

Educational policies have to be shaped by those who follow them in real-life settings. The Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellowship is a popular U.S. awards program that evaluates the most successful educational contributions in diverse school settings. The best of the best get the opportunity to meet the media and policymakers directly to share their ideas or comments on the quality of educational policies. If you don’t have the capability to bring teachers and policymakers together, you can award the winner with a publication in the local educational media or a speaker’s role at a conference.

Special certification

The chance to enrich your teaching arsenal with a special achievement accreditation is a great opportunity for any educator. National Board Certification is a shining example of how to recognize teachers by offering career perks in exchange for exceptional expertise. Anyone who wants to win certification can submit a video of his/her teaching with the work of their students which demonstrate progress.

Tips on teacher recognition

As far as your creative genius takes you, you can build recognition programs with different formats using the following tips:

• Professionalism. From the organization of the application process to the choice of judges, everything has to be professional. Try to stick to the latest educational policies, avoid any conflicts of interest, and make the requirements crystal-clear.
• Technology. Even for small, one-day awards events, it’s a good idea to use a proficient contest management software. This helps judges, organizers, and teachers reduce labor and time investment as well as avoids evaluation mistakes.
• Announcement. Before putting the spotlight on someone, inquire whether the participants/schools agree to make the contest results public. You might be surprised, but there are many stunning educators who prefer not to shout about it.

Conclusion

Among all the ways to recognize teachers, pick an idea that fits well not only with your target school environment, but also with the educators’ mode of work, teaching conditions, and students. Using an automated awards management system, you can promote educational growth at the level of local schools and move mountains in national policy making.