U.S Teacher Appreciation Week: Lessons for Ghana

Ghana does not need to be well developed and have a big economy like the United States of America to institute a Teacher Appreciation Week that seeks to celebrate all teachers at all levels throughout the week.

Despite our nation’s successful implementation of a national award scheme at the national level and for teachers in some districts, much more work remains.

The U.S. will celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week 2024 from Monday, May 6, to Friday, May 10. The conversations they are having are all centered on teacher welfare and appreciation and that is worth the celebration.

The National Education Association (NEA) of the US describes National Teacher Appreciation Week as a week for honouring teachers and recognising the lasting contributions they make to our lives.

Parents and their learners flood schools at special times of the day during the week-long celebration to surprise teachers with gifts of all kinds and words of appreciation.

In our region of the world, we only host conferences and programmes that feature lengthy speeches, culminating in an award day that honours a select group of educators.

We keep the teachers we are celebrating officially at work even on the teachers’ award day.

Teaching is the only profession in the world that creates all other professions, yet we have refused to honour teachers. The statement that the reward of teachers is in heaven must be retired, and we all must embrace the call to honour our teachers very well while they contribute to training and nurturing our human resource base as a nation.

Teaching is the only profession that can create other professions. Without teachers, there would be no engineers, doctors, artists, innovators, leaders, or other teachers. In a tweet that Ghana Education News spotted, the U.S. Department of Education made this clear.

Ghana Teacher Prize 2023, organised by the National Teaching Council, under the theme: “The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage,” only ended up being a speech. There are currently schools with a limited number of teachers yet we are yet to post new teachers many of whom are at home rusting away after we have trained them.

The spirit behind the U.S Teacher Appreciation Week just be inherited and fused into the Ghana Teacher Prize Week celebration.

The government’s actions through the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service must demonstrate the government’s commitment to the welfare of teachers at all times.

The current issues regarding teachers’ strike actions over professional development allowance and allowances for teachers in deprived communities are a shame for the government. A caring government that values its educators must be proactive with initiatives and incentives, rather than teachers fighting the government for them.

Parents and students in the US were asked, “What’s the best way to appreciate teachers?” during the 2024 State Teachers of the Year interactions, and this is what some residents had to say.

Listen to teachers; they know what’s happening in our schools and with our children.

Teachers in classrooms across the country see the potential in their students that they don’t yet see in themselves.

They are constantly bringing themselves out to brighten and nourish the minds of their students.

We, as a country, have minimized the teaching profession so much that we are okay with teachers needing a second job to survive. I am not okay with it. Our teachers deserve better. The president of Ghana made a statement that teachers in Ghana cannot be millionaires in the profession they find themselves in. The sad reality is that we have reduced the profession to a “hand-to-mouth” job, forcing teachers to endure poverty throughout their careers.

On Ghana Teacher Prize Day, our teachers are even required to work when they should be enjoying a special holiday at home.

They are sharing their impactful stories and how they are transforming lives in classrooms without being noticed.

A teacher said she feels appreciated when she sees her students’ smiles, etc.

What’s the best way to appreciate teachers?

We went right to the source and asked some of @ccsso’s 2024 State Teachers of the Year.#TeacherAppreciationWeek #TAW24 #ThankATeacher pic.twitter.com/BjbBUwlq3v

— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) May 7, 2024

The U.S Teacher Appreciation Week must teach Ghana and the government important lessons. We need to find more innovative ways of celebrating teachers and making parents and children part of the celebration.

Parents and learners should be encouraged to appreciate their teachers in a week-long activity that is inculcated into the week’s curricular activities in schools.

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It must be a week when parents freely appreciate teachers through gifts, among others. This way we can also create good and lasting memories as we appreciate our teachers.