Eddie Woo Didn't Win the Global Teacher Prize But He's Still a Winner In Our Maths-Loving Hearts

Meet Eddie Woo, the NSW YouTube star who's one of the ten best teachers in the world.

Eddie Woo, the head of mathematics at a Sydney school, has just missed out on the top award for teachers globally after being nominated alongside ten educators from around the world. 

The Global Teacher Prize is awarded to one teacher in the world for "an outstanding contribution to their profession", and while Eddie has surely done that, the award went to Andria Zafirakou of the United Kingdom for her work in an ethnically and linguistically diverse school. She's learnt the basics of 35 languages to connect with her students, so, okay, she probably deserves the award, for sure.

But Eddie's inclusion in the top ten finalists for the award is nonetheless a nod to his impact in Australia and the globe.

His goal? To make mathematics exciting and accessible.

He does this through his YouTube (or WooTube, as he calls it) channel, where he explains difficult mathematical concepts with easy analogies and diagrams.

His channel has taken off to the point that he has 200,000 subscribers, and he was offered the role of 'master teacher' by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. While he retains his teaching post at Sydney's Cherrybrook Technology High School, he travels across NSW teaching mathematic techniques to teachers and students.

Eddie told the ABC he's helping teachers in the state to adapt and tweak the way they teach so that students can better understand.

"[I will be] able to equip these teachers with new ideas and practices that will help enliven the way that they teach," he said.

"That's just such an important thing for these people out in regional areas because it's very hard for them to get it any other way."

You keep doing you, Eddie. It's helping a lot of struggling math students.

Photo: YouTube (Eddie Woo)