According to UNESCO, it is a day to “celebrate how teachers are transforming education but also to reflect on the support they need to fully deploy their talent and vocation, and to rethink the way ahead for the profession globally”. 

Background 

The day was first celebrated in 1994, as a result of an intergovernmental conference by UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) about the status of teachers. The day is also celebrated to remember the anniversary of the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This recommendation, which was adopted in 1997, set benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, including standards for preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.  

World Teachers’ Day is held in partnership with the International Labour Organisation, UNICEF and Education International (EI). 

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, Catherine Russell, Executive Director at UNICEF and David Edwards, General Secretary at Education International have prepared a joint statement for the day: "Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate the critical role of teachers in transforming learners’ potential by ensuring they have the tools they need to take responsibility for themselves, for others and for the planet. We call on countries to ensure that teachers are trusted and recognized as knowledge producers, reflective practitioners, and policy partners." 

The transformation of education begins with teachers 

This year, World Teachers' Day has the special theme of ‘The transformation of education begins with teachers’. According to UNESCO, there is a need for an additional 24.4 million teachers in primary education and 44.4 million teachers for secondary education to achieve universal basic education by 2030. 

The day is celebrated at the UNESCO headquarters for three days. On 5 October, the opening of the day will be followed by an award ceremony for the 2022 UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development and a panel discussion on teacher innovation. Over the following two days,  several panels are planned to discuss the different aspects of the transformation of education.  

The celebrations will also address the commitments and calls for action made at the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. 

Better Internet for Kids for World Teachers' Day 

Here on the Better Internet for Kids portal, we work together with teacher and educators around Europe to enable them to equip children and young people with the digital and media literacy skills needed to use the digital environment in a responsible, respectful, critical and creative way.

Check out these articles and resources: 

• Positive online content can support teachers in finding online news and information which is age-appropriate and free of frightening images and messages, for example when talking about the war in Ukraine. Find some child-friendly news sources across a range of European countries, along with a selection of resources on how to talk to children about the war.  
• What do teachers and educators need to know about the latest apps and platforms? Find out more about the services young people are using and how to access support in our guide to apps.  
• Some people have difficulties getting on the digital train. They have little or no access to digital media, are frequently confronted in their environment with an attitude of avoidance or negativity towards digital media, and lack knowledge about these media, all of which deprive them of the right to participate fully in the digital society. The Belgian Safer Internet Centre gives advice on how to talk about online safety in special education. 
• The new Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) strategy, adopted in May this year, also talks about the role of teachers and the creating of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for teachers on media literacy, online safety, consumer risks online, personal data, cyberbullying, mental well-being, harmful stereotypes, the misrepresentation of sex in pornography, digital consent and respect, and gamification in teaching. Learn more about the BIK+ strategy. 
• The Greek Safer Internet Centre has created an educational handbook to help students distinguish truthful information from fake news online and to help educators teach students about fake news. 

For more recourses and articles, visit the dedicated section for teachers and educators at the Better Internet for Kids portal.  

Learn more about World Teachers' Day on the website of UNESCO and keep an eye on #WorldTeachersDay on social media.