Miss Peculiar IruomaChukwu

Hi! I am a Law graduate with five years of teaching experience, having started teaching in my first year of university. From teaching my neighbours’ children to serving on my class Academic Committee and eventually moving into formal classroom teaching, I have taught students in different capacities. One thing has become clear to me: everybody is uniquely intelligent. We simply have to learn how to give expression to that uniqueness, and I see my role as an educator as helping my students do just that. The excitement was visible when I asked a football-loving student to write an article on the role of football in maintaining international unity. Student B, initially intimidated by voluminous novels and poems, began sending me summaries and questions after we agreed he would read manageable pages of novel each day and one poem a day. Student C struggled with social media distractions, so we agreed on daily two hours dedicated to engaging with her texts, regardless of how bored she felt. After some initial inconsistencies, she eventually found the plots of her novels and dramas more intriguing than most gossip blogs. Student E felt he lacked the vocabulary to write good essays. We simply read more in class, while I advised him to read more novels and watch films with subtitles, gradually expanding his familiarity with English language.

I often tell my students: “You do not know much because you are not familiar with much. Familiarise yourself with much more, and you will know much more.” These experiences have taught me that teaching is not merely about transferring knowledge; it is about understanding each learner, identifying what works for them, and creating room for their unique abilities to flourish.