Nation’s Teachers Get Their Own Oscar Equivalency Award : Television: The Disney Channel’s ‘American Teacher Awards’ Sunday night pays tribute to 36 educators.

The ingredients include big-name celebrity hosts--among them Carol Burnett, Jon Voight and Robin Williams--film clips, production numbers and black-tie sartorial splendor. Your usual show-biz awards show?

Not quite. There’s nothing usual about the honorees or the passionate spirit of “The American Teacher Awards” on the Disney Channel Sunday at 7 p.m.

This inspirational tribute to 36 teachers from across the country, taped at the Pantages Theatre in October, recognizes their exceptional contributions to the educational system. It serves as the gala culmination of the Disney Channel’s five-minute, weekly films spotlighting 65 standouts in the teaching profession.

“It’s not just another television program; it’s not just another awards show,” said Michael Eisner, chairman of the Walt Disney Co., parent company of the pay-cable service. “I think, year in and year out, it will become part of an American institution which will enhance people’s views of who teachers are, what they do and how fantastic they are.

“These people are probably the best-educated people in our country, who make the most sacrifices, do the most interesting things and should receive the same kind of adulation others in our society get,” he said. “Maybe if they do, many more people--high school students and college students--will think of it as a worthy profession to go into.”

“People watch the Emmys and the Oscars and think they might want to be an actor,” said John Cooke, president of the Disney Channel. “Wouldn’t it be great if people watched this and decided they might want to be a teacher?”

The 2 1/2-hour special, with its top production values and star ambience, isn’t simply a cosmetic affair. Disney put up cash awards totaling $250,000 for teachers and their schools in 12 categories, from early education to the performing arts.

It is not the money that comes to mind, however, when listening to these diverse men and women who embody what education should be.

“The natural desire of all good men is knowledge,” said Joyce Briscoe, an English teacher in New Mexico. Larry Edward Souter, the first in his family to graduate from high school and college, tells his Florida science students to “stand on my shoulders” to go further. Wisconsin vocational arts teacher Tom O’Brien thanks his handicapped students “who have dared me to be my best.”

The show, partially funded by IBM Corp., owes its high-class look to the Emmy Award-winning production team of Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion. Smith said that their job was to create “romance and excitement,” and he praised the stars who participated for giving the show “a sense of importance” because “they genuinely cared.”

Smith said that he admired the professionalism of the student groups who provided music, dance and song for the program--”there’s an enormous amount of talent out there”--and he also took note of the winning teachers’ “wonderful” and “articulate” acceptance speeches.

“Nobody thanks their agent,” he said. “That’s kind of refreshing.”

The night’s overall award recipient is Sylvia Anne Washburn, a third-grade teacher in Toledo, Ohio, chosen by the 36 Disney honorees as outstanding teacher of 1990. She and her school share the top prize of $50,000.

The daughter of Mexican farmworkers, Washburn remembers the shame of feeling different in an all-white parochial school, the derogatory name-calling, “the bright-red free-lunch tickets” that broadcast her family’s poverty.

“My fifth-grade teacher told me I’d never amount to anything,” said Washburn, who is now in her 18th year of teaching. She has established several programs to encourage self-esteem among her Latino students. “Education transcends all barriers,” she said.

The teachers in the yearlong program were recommended by administrators and chosen by an independent Educational Steering Committee made up of representatives from several top educational organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Assn.

More five-minute segments and another awards show are in the works. Disney has a long-term commitment to the program, Eisner said, and he hopes that “the rest of the media grabs this and says this is something we can all do together.”