Happy National Teacher’s Day

We can easily argue that teachers are the most important members of our society. Without having someone to pass on the knowledge that essentially makes us human, would we be able to advance, even maintain our civilization? We sure wouldn’t want to be in a situation where we can find out. So, this 6th of May, we can all show appreciation for teachers by celebrating National Teacher’s Day. 

How can you celebrate National Teacher’s Day in the classroom or at home? In this article, we’ll discuss the origins and history of these observations, we’ll see how the world honors teachers, and we’ll further explore the teacher’s role in education by highlighting the effects of nurture in development. By the end of the article, we’ll take a look at what makes a teacher great and share examples of the most renewed teachers in history. 

Hopefully, all this will inspire students to appreciate their teachers more and be more thankful for the opportunity to be guided in life. Let’s go!

Origins and History of National Teacher’s Day

National Teacher’s Day, also called Teacher’s Appreciation Day, is an annual celebration that aims to honor educators for their contributions to our society. 

The ideas about a special day that celebrates teachers can be traced back to the 19th century, but there really isn’t a place of origin. Instead, by the 19th century, many countries around the world have come to celebrate a specific teacher, a milestone in education, or another similar event that slowly evolved into a teacher’s appreciation day. 

This just shows us how important education has become and how much of our life is based on learning and improving. At the same time, this is also the reason why Teacher’s day is celebrated on different dates around the world. 

In 1994, however, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided to establish an international World Teacher’s Day that’s annually celebrated on the 5th of October. Since then, many countries have adopted this date as the official Teacher’s Day in their country. 

In the US, on the other hand, this is not the case. Don’t mistake World Teacher’s Day (in October) and the National Teacher’s Day that’s part of Teacher Appreciation Week taking place the first full week of May. 

This year, Teacher Appreciation Week is observed from Monday, May 6th, to Friday, May 10th. 

How the World Celebrates National Teacher’s Day

This is also something that varies between states and countries around the world. For instance, in some states, classes are canceled or shortened, and altered. There may be a performance from students in honor of their teachers, or another ceremony might be taking place. It’s also common for older students to take over and teach younger students, taking over the role of teachers. Finally, students organize and give their teachers gifts or other tokens of appreciation for the role teachers play in their education. 

The Teacher’s Role in Education 

What role do teachers have in education and children’s development in general? Substantial – everyone probably agrees, but to what extent? This is a question that has boggled philosophers’ and psychologists’ minds for decades. And, according to their beliefs, the great minds in history have usually taken one side of the dichotomy between nature and nurture. 

So, what was the outcome? What’s more important in human development?

The Importance of Nurture

In the early 1900s, the American Psychologist John Watson came to the spotlight with his bold claims and behavior theories. He went down in history as a brilliant scientist of his time and will always be remembered for his thoughts about child development that are still echoed in developmental psychology books. 

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” – John Watson, 1930.

Today, we know that Watson’s position is not realistic and the truth about a child’s development is somewhere in the middle between nature and nurture. It’s the result of a complex interplay between many factors. While scientists are still figuring out how we know that the child’s potential (nature) can only be realized through optimal environmental factors (nurture). For this reason, you shouldn’t think of the role of teachers as caregivers in a child’s life as undermined or limited. On the contrary, it’s better defined and with today’s knowledge, teachers can implement specific strategies to maximize the chances for every child in the class to reach their full potential. 

The Pursuit of Greatness

Everybody pursuits greatness. For teachers, it’s the desire of being a great teacher, while for students the path to greatness involves realizing one’s self-potential, learning responsibility, and then being able to live the life of one’s choosing – all things on which teachers have an immense influence. So, it’s only logical to assume that the best way to teach kids how to be happy and accomplished is by being a great role model. 

Like a magical self-reinforcing circle, the teachers who inspire students will then be inspired by the students’ accomplishments. This will translate into their practice, bringing even more inspiration. 

However, it’s always easier said than done. For this reason, over the years, we’ve shared numerous guides for teachers that will help them become the best version of themselves. 

For instance, new teachers would find our “Effective Classroom Management Strategies for New Teachers” guide very useful. And, special needs teachers would benefit from our “Strategies for Teaching Special Needs Students” article. 

Helping educators deliver high-quality education all over the world is our mission. Aside from supporting teachers with affordable, ready-to-use, and interactive worksheet packs in almost any topic for building a memorable lesson plan (browse our library), here are our favorite teacher’s guides: 

• 11 Effective Teaching Habits Essential for Teaching Success
• 10 Highly Effective Teaching Practices for Teachers and Homeschooling Parents
• From Childhood to Adolescence: A Guide on Childhood Development for Teachers and Parents
• What Teachers Need to Know About Kids’ Memory
• What’s Teacher Burnout and How to Prevent It
• How to Support Online Students More in Remote Online Learning

We promise to keep writing insightful guides with essential tips for teachers, and you head over to our blog and subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you’re the first to receive all the updates and upcoming content in your email inbox. 

Appreciating Great Teachers Through History

To celebrate National Teacher’s Day, aside from learning about the history of the holiday through our awesome worksheet packs, teachers can actually lecture students about some of the most notable teachers through history and show them examples of how those teachers influenced and changed the lives of their students. 

This way, together with students, you’ll pay your appreciation for teachers all around the world and highlight the amazing results that could come up from a positive teacher-student relationship. 

Who Are the Most Celebrated Teachers in History?

The following list is our pick of some of the most renewed teachers in history that have transformed people’s lives with their wisdom and even changed the world with their innovative approaches. 

Aristotle

If we start from the very beginning, at the cradle of education as we know it today, we have to start from Aristotle. Did you know that Plato was Aristotle’s teacher? And, Socrates was Plato’s teacher? These three philosophers who had an impeccable power to transfer knowledge and inspire wisdom, still remain some of the most important figures in Western philosophy. 

What was so special about their teaching? 

Keep in mind that they lived in ancient civilizations where life was so much different than ours today. It’s even hard to say whether this difference is imaginable to us now. What we do know is that logic, critical thinking, rhetoric, mathematics, ethics, and politics – all inseparable aspects of our civilization now – were developed and first taught by Aristotle and his teachers.  

Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great – a military genius who changed the course of history. This is not only because his kingdom stretched from ancient Macedonia and Greece to Egypt and parts of India, but because his military success allowed the Hellenistic culture to be spread, and with that the teachings of Aristotle. 

A good mind exercise would be to try to imagine what would our world look like today if Alexander the Great never conquered anything and the world had never heard of Aristotle’s teachings?  

Hellen Keller

Jumping back to modern times, on our list we’re including probably one of the most inspiring educators and authors of all times – Hellen Keller. 

Hellen’s contributions were monumental since she was the first deaf-blind person to receive a bachelor’s degree. She changed history by showing the world that visual and hearing disabilities are not impairments for learning and being successful in life. This inspired many scientists and world leaders to invent new tools and change the policies so people with disabilities have an equal opportunity for education. 

Beyond that, Hellen taught many people with visual impairments how to continue with their education. Read her full biography and achievements in our worksheet pack about her – linked above.

Jaime Escalante

Escalante is another famous teacher who made significant contributions in education. He was a Bolivian-American educator who taught students math and more specifically, calculus. He challenged a lot of students and provoked them to learn and deliver results. But, it’s not so much as what he did, but the way he did it. Escalante managed to convince high school students that they’re more than capable of mastering demanding subjects such as calculus. 

His students say that he didn’t teach math, but changed lives. Hollywood even made a movie about his life as a teacher titled Stand and Deliver (1988). You can watch the movie together with students on National Teacher’s Day. 

Maria Montesorri

You’ve probably either heard of the Montessori name or are practicing the Montessori method. But, behind the curtains, Maria was an Italian physician with hopes of becoming an engineer. However, she changed her mind and enrolled in medical school where she studied pediatrics and psychiatry. She was an exceptional student who won prizes and secured her future from the very start. When she graduated, she started working with children with cognitive delay and other learning disabilities, which would prove crucial to Maria’s development of the Montessori method. Her motivation was that she wanted to include these children in the mainstream classroom, which she succeeded. 

Thanks to her educational method, a lot of children who were considered “uneducable” due to their deficiencies, passed public examinations that were meant for children with “normal” development. 

Anne Sullivan

Anne Sullivan was Hellen Keller’s teacher. She, just like Keller, was blind (partially blind) and unable to read after an eye disease at the age of five. Today, she’s considered a pioneer in education and is oftentimes referred to as a miracle worker. This is because she became an inspiration and a role model for many people with disabilities. It was her work with Hellen Keller that was used and is probably still used today as a blueprint for educating blind children all around the world. 

Emma Willard

Emma is another famous teacher who devoted her life to education. She’s most known for founding the first school for women’s higher education. As a fierce advocate for women’s rights, Emma’s Troy Female Seminary spread the awareness and the opportunity for thousands of women to receive higher education. 

Booker T. Washington

Last but not least on our humble list is Booker T. Washington, an American educator, and advisor to several presidents of the United States. He is considered the most influential spokesman for Black Americans between 1895 and 1915, but in education, his contributions revolve around building an educational program that focused on agricultural and industrial training.

Through his program, he raised not only awareness about the challenges of Black Americans at that time, but offered skills on how to overcome some of those limitations. He taught Black Americans the importance of economic stability with the help of which other rights followed. 

Follow the links above to learn more about each teacher and get a worksheet pack with key facts and printables that you can use in the classroom or at home. 

Before You Go

This article was our appreciation for teachers, homeschooling parents, and other educators all around the world. We understand the critical role they play in the upbringing of young children and transforming them into prosocial citizens. Hopefully, you can use our article as another reminder why National Teacher’s Day is so important! Also, together with the students, you can use the resources we’ve linked to celebrate National Teacher’s Day in a meaningful way. 

We’ll be very happy if you use our worksheet packs not only for this occasion, but for future lectures as well! That way, we’ll know that our efforts for showing appreciation for teachers were more than a success as we helped you in a significant way. 

Finally, don’t forget that on our blog you can always find interesting guides, tips, and advice for many different aspects of education. Is there anything you need help with? Browse our blog, as there’s a high chance we’ve already covered it.