The Marshall McLuhan Awards for Excellent Teaching program originated with Walter Cronkite, the legendary broadcaster and Center Advisory Board member. The program was developed and implemented by former U.S. Secretary of Education Shirley Hufstedler and Mary McLuhan in Los Angeles in 1984. Since then, hundreds of teachers from across Canada and the states of California and New York have been honored. Many schools have received matching awards
The Marshall McLuhan Awards for Excellent Teaching
The Teacher Award is a fitting tribute to those educators whose careers have evolved from the blackboard to the multimedia visual environments of the modern classroom.
Former Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Criteria
Please note: The Center is not currently accepting applications.
Goals
In making these awards, the Marshall McLuhan Center seeks to promote
•The recognition that, after students, teachers are the most important component of an education system
•The professionalism of teachers
•Teamwork amongst teachers
•The perception— both inside and outside the education establishment— that the profession of teaching is on par with other professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.)
•The integration of modern media into the learning process
•Appreciation of 21st Century best practices
•Learning outside the classroom, in the community
•The use of systems thinking in curricula
•The development of school systems as learning organizations
Awards Criteria and Rubric
Applications will be scored according to the following rubric (130 points total)
1a. Media (70 points). Describe or demonstrate your use of media (digital media, social media, and /or the Internet) as part of your professional practice. Discuss how your work
a. Uses innovative learning strategies
b. Helps teachers learn to use and teach with media
c. Engages students in projects that require assessment of the big picture, questioning, experimentation, evaluation of alternatives
d. Promotes collaboration on project-based tasks
e. Promotes student learning in the community outside the classroom
f. Promotes student self-assessment
g. Fosters information-literate, self-directed, autonomous learners
h. Encourages global learning
i. Integrates the use of performance-based assessments with ongoing curricula improvement
j. In other ways promotes 21st Century best practices
k. Has resulted in exceptional learning
While you do not have to address all the above points to be awarded full points, the most competitive applications will address several of them.
1b. Teamwork (10 points) For an additional 10 points, a team of applicants should demonstrate how they have worked together to develop, deploy, and improve a media-rich curricula as part of their shared professional practice.
2. Learning Community (10 points) Describe how you contribute to professional learning community(s). Explain your estimate of how many educators (including administrators) are involved.
3. Service in an under-resourced school for low-income children of color (10 points) Provide documentation on the level of resources available to the school, such as per pupil expenditures relative to district and state figures, percent of students qualifying for free or reduced price lunch program, and ethnic / racial composition of the student body.
4. Contributions to the Profession (10 points) Describe your contributions to the profession of teaching. For example: Mentoring other teachers, leading a learning community, writing articles, advocating for 21st Century teaching practices, or speaking at professional conferences.
Essay (10 points) Describe what you think it would take for your school, your community, your district, and your state to transform into an optimally functioning learning organization.
6. Letters of Support (10 points) Concise letters that support the candidates strengths with respect to the criteria in these guidelines
application cover form
The Marshall McLuhan Global Village Forum
After being recognized with a Teaching Award, recipients participate in a Marshall McLuhan Global Village Forum. Past and present Marshall McLuhan recipients highlight best practices in online education and interactive learning environments. The Forums effectively demonstrate the technocreative chain:
teachers teaching teachers teaching students teaching teachers
The Marshall McLuhan Global Village Award
Musician and artist Peter Gabriel received the Award in 1998 for his work with the WOMAD Foundation in promoting, maintaining, improving and advancing education in world cultures and multicultural education.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley received the first Marshall McLuhan Global Village Award in 1994 for his dedication in expanding educational programs across the Asia-Pacific region by enhancing better communication between Los Angeles County students, their teachers, and teachers linked globally via the Internet.
