世界最佳教师!自学35门语言,只为教学生!
A teacher who learned to greet her pupils in the 35 languages spoken at her deprived inner city school has been named the best teacher in the world. Andria Zafirakou, 39, was selected from thousands of applicants around the world for her work with migrant children at Alperton Community School in Brent. And now the teacher has won the fourth annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize worth one million dollars (£715,000). The award honors one exceptional teacher every year who has made a significant contribution to the profession. Andria beat some 30,000 applicants from around the world to scoop the prize, becoming the first UK teacher to do so. Andria received her award during a star-studded Oscars-style ceremony on Sunday hosted by Trevor Noah of the 'Daily Show'. Other celebrities present included Hollywood star Charlize Theron and Indian actress Priyanka Chopra. And the trophy was delivered by Formula One's Lewis Hamilton. In a congratulatory video message, Prime Minister Theresa May said the prize was a 'fitting tribute' for everything Ms Zafirakou had done for her students. A high proportion of the pupils Andria teaches come from migrant families. In an effort to build bridges within the school community, she learned the greetings for the 35 languages spoken by her pupils, so she could talk to them and their parents at the gates. These include Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Portuguese, Somali, Arabic, Romanian, Polish, Urdu and Italian. Judges shortlisted her for the annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize after hearing about how she reached out to families in her diverse community. She said that greeting someone in their language 'helps to break down barriers and enables families to engage more in the school community'. Brent has the largest proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in England and Wales, and more than 140 languages are spoken. As a member of the school's senior leadership team, Miss Zafirakou redesigned the curriculum to make it 'relevant' to her pupil's lives. She helped a music teacher launch a Somali school choir and also pioneered girls-only sports so that those from conservative religious communities would be more willing to take part. Her colleagues also credit her with helping the school to win a number of awards and boost pupil performance. |