A Greek teacher is among the finalists of the Global Teacher Awards – the nobel prize for educators. Aggeliki Pappa was shortlisted from thousands of nominations and applications from 148 countries around the world, making it to the top 50.

Specifically, Aggeliki is an expert in teaching English as a Foreign Language to Greek students with dyslexia and learning differences. As an EFL teacher, she recognized that there were no methods or resources available specifically for helping students with dyslexia who wanted to learn English. “If a child struggled to read and write in their native language, what hope would they have with English?” she thought and resolved to fix the problem.

After extensive research she developed a whole system to teach EFL with dyslexia called “I Love Dyslexia.” Seeing a gap, she created her own organization to help children.

Aggeliki’s approach is based on brain science and consists of a synthesis of smart visuals, mind maps, funny mnemonics and games to learn EFL skills in fresh and unconventional ways. It also includes socialising with native speakers, reflection on current affairs, drama, gardening and the use of technology. Her students’ pass rate in international EFL certificates is 100%. Students also report a significant rise in general school performance and emotional satisfaction, often after years of frustration.

Aggeliki has taught around 800 students with special educational needs and trained about 1,500 EFL teachers at seminars run in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. She has been in the media, on television and in print, and her achievements have been recognised by the Minister of Education, the Ministry of Development and UNESCO Hellas.

For this reason, she made it to this year’s top 50 from 29 countries and stands to win a $1mln Global Teacher Prize for her efforts.