When you think of celebrating World Teachers’ Day, what teachers come to mind? Maybe a teacher from your younger years who knew all of the best songs and games to help you learn. Or a really great science teacher who guided you through hands-on labs. Perhaps a college professor who gave the best lectures about the Russian Revolution. For me, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about one of my teachers and their collective impact on my life. I think that they deserve to be celebrated everyday, but there is a special day just for teachers to be recognized for all of their hard work – World Teachers’ Day is today, October 5th.
On October 5, 1966 a meeting convened in Paris to discuss the status of teachers. This conference was convened by UNESCO and resulted in a set of guidelines to promote teachers’ status in the interest of quality education. In 1994, UNESCO declared that October 5th would be World Teachers’ Day in celebration of that important meeting 28 years earlier. Today, we continue to celebrate all of the wonderful teachers of the world with this special holiday. This year’s theme is “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers.”
Here at Girl Museum, we truly appreciate the work that teachers do. Several of our team members have worked as teachers and know first-hand of the joys and struggles of teaching. We try to help teachers by providing educational resources to go along with each of our exhibits. These education guides are aligned to UK and/or US educational standards so that students can explore our exhibits while meeting their educational goals. Many exhibits also feature printable coloring pages and online quizzes. When I taught high school World History I loved using the Girl Museum exhibits in my class. My students’ favorite was Warrior Princess – especially the story of Olga!
We hope that you will find a special way to honor your teachers this World Teachers’ Day. We would love for you to share your celebration ideas and stories of great teachers with us! To all of the wonderful teachers out there, thank you for the incredibly meaningful work that you do!
-Hillary Rose
Education Advisor
Girl Museum Inc.