The best teachers of Belarus joined the fight for the title of “Teacher of the Year”

Final of the contest “Teacher of the Year of the Republic of Belarus – 2026” started in Minsk

Out of 10 thousand teachers who fought for victory at the school, district and regional stages, 63 of the best came to the final phase of the republican competition “Teacher of the Year”. They have open classes and master classes ahead. The nine strongest will reach the superfinals, and the name of the absolute winner will be announced in the capital on October 2, on the eve of Teachers’ Day. The main prize for the owner of the Crystal Crane is a new car. In addition, the finalists have a preferential right to receive the highest qualification category.

The first day of the competition surprised with scale and creativity. Speeches, posters, bright stretch marks, poems, active use of artificial intelligence and real mini-performances - self-presentation of the participants of the final of the contest "Teacher of the Year of the Republic of Belarus - 2026" turned into a stunning show. For good reason, before the start of the holiday, Deputy Minister of Education Alexander Kadlubay admitted: I am sincerely worried about our jury. I'm sure their job will be difficult. The main thing that we all expect from the competition is fresh pedagogical findings and new names that the whole of Belarus will now learn. The winner of the contest “Teacher of the Year – 2023” Sergey Shaminsky this time evaluates colleagues as a member of the jury. He admitted that he was ready to pass the baton of leadership:

- This is a very difficult path, it requires a tremendous exposure. The strongest come to the Republican stage. Behind every bright number on the stage are years of work and serious selection.

The competition traditionally unites not only recognized masters, but also ambitious young people. This time, the best will be selected in nine categories, two of which were new: Young Teacher and Young School Principal. Here compete specialists up to 31 years with experience up to 5 years. 25-year-old Dmitry Astapenko, a mathematics teacher at the Yanka Kupala gymnasium in Mozyr, represents the Gomel region:

- Going to pedagogy was inspired by my mother, also a mathematician, she devoted almost 40 years to school. I try to use practice-oriented tasks in my lessons. It’s important for me to show the kids that math is not just dry numbers, formulas and calculations, but a cool tool for living. For example, instead of the usual task to find the area of the rectangle, I suggest that the class calculate the area of the floor in the room and estimate how much paint will be spent for repair. Dmitry and his colleagues will have to demonstrate creative methods more than once. Participants of the competition will have to conduct lessons in completely unfamiliar classes, give master classes to students. The program of the final promises to be as connected as possible with school weekdays. It includes compiling situational tasks and even checking real student notebooks.

THEME

Valery Barashkov, People’s Teacher of Belarus, Chairman of the jury of the contest “Teacher of the Year of the Republic of Belarus – 2026”:

- I will give you three tips – both for participants and just for teachers. First, before a lesson or a competitive test, you need to remove all the negativity that accumulates in your head: sick, in the family is wrong, information from the Internet has been picked up. Your head should be fresh and clean. How to do this, suggest neuroscientists and experience training astronauts: you need to make the body work differently than it used to. Change the respiratory system. We usually take 12 to 20 breaths per minute. And if you do 3-4, the body will perceive this as an alarm and throw all the forces on the absorption of oxygen. The principle is simple: four seconds inhale, four seconds hold of breath, four seconds exhale, four seconds delay. Repeat 10 to 20 times. All the garbage is coming out of my head!

Advice number two: Be yourself. When the teacher comes to the lesson, the teacher is psychologically rebuilt, and the lesson is not as planned. Learn from children: they are controlled by everyone, and they live their lives. When you are preparing for a competitive lesson, do not take new, specially invented techniques. You've got hundreds. Take what you are doing on a subconscious level – it should be 80 percent.

Advice three: get into resonance. Resonance is a coincidence of frequencies. And a person has more of these frequencies than the strings on the guitar: name, clothes, appearance, behavior, interests. If in your classes and open events you find these frequencies in children and jury members, success is guaranteed.

azanovich@sb.by