ON GLOBAL TEACHER PRIZE WINNER MAGGIE MACDONNELL AND WHAT HUMILITY LOOKS LIKE
We met at a fancy hotel on Central Park South, a place that most native New Yorkers scurry past before they get priced out of the sidewalk. Whenever I meet teachers that gain acclaim on a macro-level, I always ask two questions: how are they affected by their newfound fame and do they still have the touch? The first is obvious. In American society, teachers who get large titles like “National Teacher of the Year,” “President of [insert large city here],” or, in this case, “Global Teacher Prize,” skyrocket to echelons where they meet heads of state, billionaire magnates, and hedge fund managers who can sneeze donations. They get peppered with gifts and four-to-five figure speaking gigs and, on occasion, get recognized for just being nice. It’s more than an honor; it’s the equivalent of getting a diamond-encrusted coat.
They might be the same “them,” but everyone else sees diamonds. They must be royalty. Everyone else says so now, but not before the coat. So it goes with the Global Teacher Prize winner Maggie MacDonnell, winner of the 2017 Global Teacher Prize.
I wouldn’t call this an interview, though. Interviews are often one-directional, so I insisted on talking through it. It’s also important to note that I met her the day after I finished classes. I still hadn’t unplugged from the person I was in the classroom. People might believe that one of the most notorious / renowned teachers in the largest city On Global Teacher Prize Winner Maggie Macdonnell and What Humility Looks Like | The Jose Vilson: