BILL GATES NAMES ILONGGO ONE OF THE WORLD’S 10 BEST TEACHERS
He’s in the running for the 2018 Global Teacher Prize
Jesus Insilada, a teacher from Caninguan National High School in Lambunao, Iloilo, has been named by philanthropist Bill Gates as one of the 10 best teachers in the world.
Insilada is one of the 10 finalists for the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize 2018 that comes with $1 million cash. The prize will go to one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, and shone a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society.
In the announcement video, Gates said: “Finalists were selected based on a rigorous set of criteria, including their proven effectiveness in inspiring students and helping them learn.”
Culture-based approach
Insilada is an English and creative writing teacher who uses a culture- based approach in his instructions to make students become more engaged in their education and more appreciative of their Panay Bukidnon culture.
He and the other finalists have been selected from over 30,000 nominations and applications from 173 countries around the world. Fifty teachers comprised part of the shortlist, including another Filipino, Ryan Homan of San José Elementary School, Donsol West District.
Both Insilada and Homan are honorees of Bato Balani Foundation’s The Many Faces of the Teacher.
Insilada was recognized in the 2013 Teachers along with Ramon Magsaysay awardee Randy Halasan, Dr. Teodora Balangcod of Baguio City, and Julieta Serrano of Iloilo.
Dubbed by the program as the “instructional archivist,” Insilada shone for his passion in teaching and writing in Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a and for making the preservation of these local languages his bigger responsibility.
Homan, on the other hand, was an honoree of The Many Faces of the Teacher in 2016.
Insilada is also a multi-awarded Hiligaynon poet, a short story writer and a novelist, with four Palanca awards to boot.
Other finalists
The other nine finalists for the Global Teacher Prize 2018 are Nurten Akkus a preschool teacher and principal at Ayvacik Pre-School, Samsun, Turkey; Marjorie Brown, who teaches history at Roedean School, Johannesburg, South Africa; Luis Miguel Bermudez Gutierrez, a social science teacher at the Colegio Gerardo Paredes IED, Bogotá, Colombia; Glenn Lee, an engineering and technology teacher from Waialua High & Intermediate School, Waialua, Hawaii, United States; Diego Mahfouz Faria Lima, director of Darcy Ribeiro Municipal School in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil; Koen Timmers, a lecturer at PXL University College in Hasselt and a computer science teacher at CVO De Verdieping school in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium; Eddie Woo, a mathematics teacher from Cherrybrook Technology High School, Sydney, Australia; Andria Zafirakou, an art and textiles teacher fromAlperton Community School, Brent, London, United Kingdom; and Barbara Anna Zielonka, an English teacher at Nannestad High School, Norway.
The winner of the Global Teacher Prize 2018 will be announced on March 18 at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai.