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Today, NPR Ed kicks off a yearlong series: 50 Great Teachers. We're starting this celebration of teaching with Socrates, the superstar teacher of the ancient world. He was sentenced to death...
- Steve Wozniak
- Salman Amin Khan
- Leonhard Euler
- Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez
- Muhammad Abdul Bari
- Elsa Salazar Cade
- Colin Hegarty
- Toru Kumon
- Tatyana Velikanova
- Alexander Graham Bell
1950-Present, American
Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Jobs in 1976. Wozniak was the creator of Apple 1 the computer that launched Apple. He was introduced to Jobs in 1971 by a friend who saw that they both had a passion for electronics and pranks. Wozniak left Apple in 1985 and spent some time teaching computer classes to elementary school students something he had always wanted to do.
1976-Present, American
Founder of the Khan Academy Salman Amin Khan presides over an organization and free online education platform that teaches a wide range of academic subjects. His teaching career began in 2003 when he began by tutoring his cousin over the internet in Maths. The lessons were so successful that other relatives started asking for help. His youtube videos have now been viewed more than 1.2 billion times. In 2012 he was voted by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.3.
1707-1783, Swiss
Scholar and physicist and scholar Leonard Euler is renowned for developing many of today’s mathematical concepts such as Pi. He spent time as a professor of Physics in St Petersburg Russia before moving to become head of the Mathematics division. In his 30’s he was director of Mathematics at Berlin Academy of Science and Beaux Arts and went on to become the Academy Head.
1930-2010, Bolivian
Before emigrating to the USA Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez taught Mathematics and Physics in Bolivian schools for 12 years. After arriving in the USA he taught himself English and took a number of jobs to fund his way through college before he was able to return to the classroom. Escalante taught Calculus in Los Angeles, California for 17 years. He was the subject of a book ‘Escalante, The Best Teacher in America’ and a 1988 film called Stand and Deliver. There is also an asteroid named a...
1953-Present, Bangladeshi
Muhammad Abdul Bari, MBE was born in Bangladesh and is a writer, teacher, physicist and community leader. He has been named one of the most influential Asian Muslims in Western Europe. Early in his career, he spent five years teaching science at a secondary school in Haringey, London. After this, he worked as the Special Needs Advisor for Tower Hamlets Education Authority.
1952-Present, Mexican
Elsa Salazar Cade was chosen as one of the top ten Science teachers in the USA In 1995. Along with her husband Dr. William H. Cade she has won praise for her 30 years of work as an entomologist specialising on the behaviour of the Texas field cricket. The Cade’s are also well-known philanthropists.
1981-Present, British
Global teacher prize finalist Colin Hegarty says that there is no such thing as being bad at Maths. He believes that with the right tuition and support any student can succeed. He teaches 11 to 18-year-olds in a London secondary school and the 1,500 mathematics videos on his website have been viewed 5m times across 224 territories. He was awarded 2015 teacher of the year prize in the UK.
1914-1995, Japanese
The internationally known Kumon Maths Method was developed by Toru Kumon a Japanese Maths Professor. Kumon began his career teaching High School Maths in his hometown. In the 1950’s disappointed by his son’s school maths tuition Kumon began to hand write worksheets for him each day at home. By the time his son was in year six his Maths was at the level of a student nearing the end of their high school years.
1932-2002, Russian
Tatyana Velikanova was a Mathematician and Human Rights Campaigner in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Until 1957 she worked as a Maths teacher in the Urals. After moving to Moscow along with others she began to campaign for human rights in the USSR. As a result of her ‘anti-soviet activity’, she was exiled and imprisoned for nearly nine years in a prison camp. On her release in 1988, she returned to teaching Maths and Russian language and literature in Moscow.
1847-1922, Canadian
Edinburgh born Scientist, inventor and engineer Alexander Graham Bell’s most famous invention was the first working telephone in 1885. He went on to found the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) the same year. Bell had been born into a family who all worked in the field of elocution and speech and had a mother and wife who were both profoundly deaf. At 16 years old Bell’s first job was as a “pupil-teacher” of elocution and music.
- Maria Montessori – Changed the Preschool World. Dr. Marie Montessori had a dream to change the way children were taught in school. She used her medical background to challenge the teaching methodology used with often forgotten or overlooked populations including children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and preschool children.
- Sal Khan – Changed the Tutoring World. Mr. Sal Khan was a stellar student who excelled at several prestigious universities. However, he understood that learning didn’t come easy for all students.
- Toru Kumon – Changed the Math World. Mr. Toru Kumon was a high school math teacher. His son, Takeshi, didn’t appear to have his dad’s natural math abilities and was struggling in math.
- Bill Nye – Changed the Science World. Mr. Bill Nye is known all over the world as Bill Nye, the Science Guy. A name he accidentally got after calling into a live TV show to correct a host about the pronunciation of a science word: gigawatt.
- Neil Postman. Neil Postman was an American cultural critic who wrote extensively about the impact of technology on education. He believed that technology could be a powerful learning tool but should be used thoughtfully and in moderation.
- Lev Vygotsky. Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist who developed the concept of the zone of proximal development. He believed that learning occurs when students are challenged just beyond their current level of understanding and that teachers should work on scaffolding their learning.
- Bill Nye. Bill Nye is an American science educator who became famous in the 1990s with his television show, Bill Nye the Science Guy. His approach to teaching science emphasized fun, humor, and hands-on experimentation.
- Howard Gardner. Howard Gardner is an American psychologist who developed the theory of multiple intelligences. He believed that intelligence is not a single trait but a combination of different types of intelligence, such as linguistic, musical, and logical-mathematical.
Oct 5, 2018 · In honor of World Teachers' Day, we're taking a look at 17 educators who changed the lives of their students, and impacted the future forever.
- Adam Schubak
- Content Strategy Manager
Oct 5, 2020 · There are about 80 million school teachers worldwide and more than half are female. Women account for 94% of teachers In pre-primary education globally and about half of those in upper secondary education.
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Oct 31, 2014 · 50 Great Teachers: Socrates, The Ancient World's Teaching Superstar. We began this week with a two-parter on Socrates: Eric Westervelt's piece and then this video with children talking about...
