It’s World Teachers’ Day!

Today is UNESCO World Teachers’ Day – let’s celebrate all teachers and trainee teachers around the globe!

Are you a PGCE student or doing a master’s in education at the University of Bolton? Perhaps you’re considering applying for a postgraduate course to hone your skills in the field of teaching? Or maybe you’re working in education right now and you’re interested in professional development?

Wherever you are in your career journey, today is a great day to celebrate your achievements, while also recognising and appreciating the achievements and efforts of others to make education accessible to all.

What is World Teachers’ Day?

UNESCO World Teachers’ Day takes place on 5 October every year. This international teachers’ day celebrates teaching professionals from every corner of the globe, and commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers in 1966.

This Recommendation sets benchmarks for the rights and responsibilities of teachers. It also sets the standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.

What’s the theme for 2021?

In 2021, the theme for World Teachers’ Day is “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”.

The event will be focused on the support that teachers need to fully contribute to education’s recovery in a post-pandemic world. It’s now been a year and a half since the COVID crisis hit, and it’s important to find ways to help teachers improve and adapt education to the new normal.

There have been many lost hours in the classroom, and in order to help pupils get up to speed and give the same access to education as students in previous years, schools must have a plan in place.

For this international teachers’ day, there will be a five day series of global events to showcase the impacts of the pandemic and what can be done to recover from it.

Click here to see the full agenda or watch the event live here.

How can you get involved?

Although the event is held annually on 5 October, this celebration will take place across five whole days, giving you plenty of time to take part.

Download the official UNESCO event poster if you would like to promote the event in your school or workplace.

You can also share your thoughts on teaching, and what needs to be done in order to improve education in a very different world than before. Perhaps you’ve experienced frustrations, perhaps you’ve needed more support, or perhaps you’ve found ways to make teaching flexible and adaptable for current times.

Whatever your thoughts, tips, advice or ideas, you can head over to Twitter to join the conversation. Use the hashtags #worldteachersday and #UniversityofBolton to get your voice heard.

Looking to improve your skills?

One of the most important parts of teaching is to always continue learning. The pandemic has proved that change can cause major shifts in how we do things. But the need to constantly improve and adapt was apparent even before COVID struck.

Continued professional development is something that every teacher should consider, and has always been important for those who want to take their career further. At the University of Bolton, we have a range of PGCE and master’s programmes that could take your skills to the next level.

The University of Bolton is one of the largest providers of teacher education in higher and further education. We’ve also been in the Top 10 in the UK for Student Satisfaction* for the second year running, and have a high graduate employment rate.

To find out more about applying, see our education and teacher training courses.

Don’t forget to tweet us using the hashtags #worldteachersday and #UniversityofBolton!

*Complete University Guide, 2022 & 2021