Nominations now open for Teachers Inspire 2023

Teachers Inspire, an initiative organised and run by Dublin City University, is once again calling on the public to share stories about the positive impact a teacher has made on their lives, and nominate them for this year’s awards. 

The initiative, which aims to honour and celebrate teachers across the country, highlights how they can inspire imagination, creativity, confidence and courage, inside and outside of the classroom. Anyone can nominate a teacher who has made a difference in their lives by going to teachersinspire.ie and clicking on Share Your Story. Nominations will remain open until January 2024, and the four most inspiring stories will be selected and celebrated at an event early next year.

Acclaimed author Louise O’Neill returns this year as curator and host of the Teachers Inspire podcast for a third season, where she will speak with inspirational teachers and those whose lives they’ve touched. Louise will also chat to educators and former students about topics such as same sex vs. mixed schools, the importance of autism-friendly learning environments, supporting transgender students, and STEM education in primary schools. The first episode of the new series features one of last year's winners, Joe McAndrew (a retired teacher from Banagher National School, Co. Mayo) and his nominator and past pupil, Ann Loughney, who speaks about Joe’s compassion for gender equality and how he prepared his students for the world of the future back in the 1980s.

You can listen to the episode here.

Speaking about Teachers Inspire, Louise O’Neill said:

I am thrilled to be part of the Teachers Inspire initiative for a third year. I have seen first hand the impact that teachers can make on the lives of students, and they deserve to be celebrated every day. The people I’ve met and the conversations I’ve had on the podcast to date have been truly inspiring, and I can’t wait for everyone to tune into the new season. From speaking with previous Teachers Inspire awardees and their nominators, to chatting with experts about autism-friendly universities and STEM education in primary schools, we have a lot of interesting episodes lined up.

About Teachers Inspire

Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in our lives and in our communities. It is organised and run by Dublin City University and generously supported by a philanthropic donation by Mr. Dermot Desmond. Mr. Desmond also supports The Desmond Chair in Early Childhood Education at DCU's Institute of Education. Now in its fourth year, Teachers Inspire celebrated teachers in 2019, 2021, and 2022.