Proper appraisal will show public school teachers are capable – 2022 TOEFL grant winner

Oluyemisi Adedokun-Oladejo is an English teacher with the Ogun State Teaching Service Commission. As a freelancer, she has taught in several secondary schools and also prepares candidates for IELTS across the state. She emerged the winner of the 2022 TOEFL English Practitioner’s Grant. She has also won the 2020 African Writers’ Prize for Creative Non-fiction […]

Oluyemisi Adedokun-Oladejo is an English teacher with the Ogun State Teaching Service Commission. As a freelancer, she has taught in several secondary schools and also prepares candidates for IELTS across the state. She emerged the winner of the 2022 TOEFL English Practitioner’s Grant. She has also won the 2020 African Writers’ Prize for Creative Non-fiction and a co-winner of the 2021 Ogun State Academic Laurel. In this interview, she spoke on her award and the challenges of being a teacher and more.

Tell us what the competition and award are all about.

Following my registration for a professional course at Bridge Universe in April 2021, I was signed up for their newsletter. It was in one of the mails from Bridge Universe that I learnt about the prize.

The TOEFL English Practitioner’s Prize is one of the numerous ways by which the Education Testing Service promotes English Language around the world. They partner with the winner of the prize who has the mandate of coaching learners in preparation for TOEFL (at junior, senior, primary or tertiary levels) using the resources for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) provided by ETS.

How do you feel about emerging the winner?

Gratitude! I owe a debt of gratitude, first, to God who has made my tongue the pen of a ready writer; then, to my parents who had many reasons to give up on me but chose not to. I am also grateful to the people in my support system – my sister, my husband and my best friend, Funmi Gaji.

What will you do with the grant?

The grant statutorily comes with resources that help the grantee facilitate Computer Assisted Language Learning. Invariably, my school gets computers, projectors, microphones, headphones, etc.

What would you say distinguished you from other teachers to give you an edge over them?

To attribute the entirety of this feat to my hard work and commitment is to be an ingrate. The scriptures tell me that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. It is God that has chosen to bring me out of obscurity and announce me to the world.

That is not to say that I won this prize on a silver platter. Though the decision of ETS to consider me for this prize took a few months, I’ll say that it took me years of hard work and consistency to build impressive credentials that had gotten me on the interview shortlist, to begin with. ETS received thousands of applications along with mine, and my application could have drowned in the sea of other applications. 

I’d like to think that my resume submitted with the application is quite rich for someone who teaches at the secondary level. I have consistently added value to myself, actively sought professional growth and volunteered in several education projects. For many of these, I have certificates and they are included in my resume.

I’d also think I did a good job marketing myself during the interview. For example, I mentioned that it was my insatiable thirst for professional growth that made me take a paid professional course at Bridge Universe (which is true) where I later learnt about the competition. Not many teachers will take self-funded professional courses of their own volition.

I also went an extra mile. During the interview, I asked whether I could forward the transcript of the session to them. I wasn’t required to do that but I did it anyway. I made a transcript of the hour-long interview session and forwarded it to them as PDF shortly after the interview.

Is this the first time you are taking part in any teachers’ competition? Tell us about others, if any?

Yes, it’s my first time participating in contests involving fellow teachers, but I have interned and volunteered in many education-projects along with fellow teachers. I served as a delegate in the T4 Global Teachers’ Conference; I served as a delegate with the education cohort of the International Model United Nations; I served as a teacher-ambassador for the Olympia Global Intellectuals’ Challenge; I have facilitated workshops for teachers and given keynote speeches at education summits and from time to time, I work closely with other teachers in the Facebook community of educators founded by me.

Many parents no longer believe in the quality of public schools education but of late we see teachers in public schools doing exploits like you, what has changed?

Nothing has changed. There are a number of public school students who have won in competitions against students in private schools. Who prepared these students? Public school teachers, of course! Also, there are a number of public school teachers who have done exploits in the past. These people didn’t enjoy the publicity deserved. Social media makes publicity easier these days. That’s all. 

In my 13 years of teaching in public schools, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best brains in the industry. If public school teachers are appraised on cognitive ability, it won’t be right to say we can’t deliver. A holistic assessment of the situation might highlight the inaccessibility of resources among several other factors mitigating the productivity of the public school teacher.

As a female, what challenges do you encounter in carrying out your job?

It is impulsive for public school students (especially boys) to treat female teachers with little or no regard. The patriarchy that is prevalent in African society has beclouded some students’ perceptions of female teachers. They look at you and reason that you can’t teach them because you are a woman. As a result, they aren’t ready to listen to you. This is common among male students in senior classes. Their masculine ego wouldn’t allow them to submit to the female teacher.

In my early days on this job, a male student mobilised his gang to harass me after school hours because I corrected his poor expression in the school. Once in a while, I still get disrespected, especially when male students meet me for the first time, but my first session in their classroom is all it takes to command their respect and admiration in most cases.

Do you think being a woman who has to run the home front and take care of her students is a factor that limits most teachers in achieving greater height?

No! As far as I am concerned, mediocrity is inexcusable. Nothing can stop a woman in pursuit of excellence. I won’t downplay the herculean task of managing a home; I have firsthand experience of this. I’m a wife and mom who has no domestic assistant. I am also a sickle cell warrior with genotype SS. But somehow, I manage to multi-task and complete my projects.

My interactions with other female teachers have revealed to me that many teachers who desire to be great can’t figure out how to go about it or where to start. This lack of clarity is why many teachers have not been able to make name for themselves. I have had the privilege of helping a few teachers get started; I have helped them become responsible and accountable for their own growth.

How can the government attract more hands into the teaching profession considering that many will not want to be teachers?

It’s simple! Make teaching more attractive. As of today, teaching is regarded as the profession for the less fortunate. The remuneration is poor in comparison with other professionals’.

What other awards do you aspire to win in future and why?

I don’t set out looking for awards; I only pour myself into everything I do. I am driven by passion. I, however, hope to someday get on the administrative corridor where I am able to influence education policies and network with education stakeholders to improve the quality of education in Africa.

What advice do you have for teachers who would love to win the grants in future?

Seeking grants or awards may result in frustration. What I recommend is that you sincerely invest in your growth and the growth of your students. Consistently add value to yourself and your students. But most importantly, be visible; strategically position yourself for opportunities.