I have started my career as an academic 12 years ago, I had an idea back then of what a good lecturer and a good lecture should be like. It was based on my experience as a student and on those teachers that have inspired me at School and University.
I worked hard on the material presented, making sure to bring in depth and up to date knowledge to all my classes
But teaching is not just about the knowledge delivered!
I soon discovered that teaching is like Science, it is about changing, it is about gaining new understanding and challenging current practice. Teaching is about learning!
I was and still am extremely fortunate to be working with large classes of students from different countries and different cultural background who have different style of learning and different experience. Such diversity is a richness that can not be overestimated.
I have learnt that excellent and intelligent students can be held back when they are constantly judged and scored based on tests that they are not comfortable with, I learnt that stress impairs students’ ability to show their learning and that there is so much more to education than passing tests.
I am an educator, and my role is teaching, but it is clear to me that I cannot do my job to the standard my students deserve, unless I keep learning and my students have been and are my greatest inspiration.
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