Teach First classroom, UK

For today’s students, it can be life-changing to encounter teachers who possess both rare leadership skills and the determination to go above and beyond traditional expectations to ensure their students have the opportunities they deserve.

At the same time, the experience of successfully teaching in high-needs areas shapes the direction and convictions of future leaders, thus creating a powerful leadership force for changing the conditions that generate educational disadvantage. Ultimately, to truly solve this problem, we will need leaders throughout our societies — at every level of education systems, at every level of policy, and in every professional sector – who demonstrate an intense commitment to change, and the understanding of what those changes need to be that comes from successfully addressing educational disadvantage.