Teachers are an essential part of the lives of children. Good teachers can encourage, nurture and build the confidence of any child.
For women, having female teachers who are intentional about their progress can give them the ability to overcome sexist comments and those who imply that women must not aim high.
Urban Woman Magazine recently spoke to some women and asked them to share the female teachers who inspired them to want better.
Read their responses below.
Jessica
Secondary school feels like a fever dream to me. Some memories I can recollect, others are jumbled. However, my experience with Mrs Omerie is one I can never forget. From the start to the finish. She was the kind of teacher you encountered and your perspective of the world got shifted forever.
The entire class had started off loathing her, including me. Everything she did was different. From the greeting she expected from us, to the way she taught the English language. Gradually, I warmed up to her and so did a good number of my classmates.
Mrs Omerie had seen my English script and called me aside. She told me she believed I could do better. And I should promise her that I will do better. I can’t remember if I did better or not, but I know how I felt at the moment. A decent mixture of shame and visibility. It felt good to be seen by a teacher. This was the first time a teacher in secondary school ever saw a positive side to what my brain could do.
Mrs Omerie didn’t just inspire me, but the entire class. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke. She taught us how to command respect by just being proper.
Good female teachers are necessary. They tend to make themselves more available to students.
Camela
Omg I do have two!
Mrs. Odunuga was my literature teacher, especially during ss1. She carried everyone along, she never tailored it to one student, and she made us active participants in every class. It made the class feel so good.
I can recite most of Othello and our early WAEC poems because of her teaching style.
I think she is a big influence on how I want to navigate being a lecturer in future.
She didn’t teach us with condescension nor spoon feed us, she made sure we were honest in pointing out our thoughts, and her correction was fun.
She was also strict.
Mrs Sylvia, My CRS teacher (I was her only student), It was such an exhilarating experience to see a teacher extend respect to a student, to make sure I remember my responsibility of thorough research and questioning. I was never ashamed to be curious around her.
I think what both of them share is, they didn’t demonize curiosity, nor did they react to questioning or confusion with violence or shaming.
Top women.
For how they influenced me, I think I am one of the biggest advocates of curiosity, continued questioning, and making my friends, or people that ask me questions, never feel small.
Academia caters, and encourages exactly that, and because I know how I felt in their classes, I think everyone should experience it.
My future students will definitely experience it. 🫡
Doyin
My mother🥹
My Primary 4 English Teacher, Mrs Oyewole. My JS2 English teacher, Miss Ikechi.
My mother studied Fine Arts, but she was really a jack of all trades. She was also a lover of children so she taught both at school and at church.
She’s nicknamed “Iya Ewe.” All the kids loved her because she never used cane, and she composed songs to teach them. She’d also pack lunch for her students who starved. Such a cool woman. 😚
But she taught me French with stern hands o😭✋🏾broooo, but thanks to her, I had As in my French exams.
The other women were so niceeee to me and brilliant too.
Abigail
My mother, Mrs Agbaje Adenike.
She is the kindest teacher I know. Truly embodies what it means to teach a child.
Shamsiya
Prof Akande of the faculty of law ABU. She is an amazing woman. Prof inspires me as a woman because the galls it takes to become a professor in a faculty like law. That also the fact that she is a feminist is an added benefit and she has always treated me like a granddaughter.
Margaret
Sister Nonye, my primary 6 teacher.
In fact her influence started when I was in Primary 5. She pinpointed me as a promising student, but I was extremely weak at maths.
Sister Nonye started coaching me even before I came into her class, patiently teaching me the theory of some of the concepts I was struggling with. She was like my own personal guru, so much that even my parents knew her.
I attribute my best graduating student result in primary 6 and my admission to JSS1 to her, because before her my teachers were more interested in shaming or flogging me for not getting maths even though I was good at other subjects. She was so patient and kind, and she used the language I understood (storytelling) to demystify maths to me.
It’s been a while since I heard about her but every time I went back to Nnewi, I went to see her to say thank you.
O
In my case, it was Ms. Ann Uadia. When she first taught our class, she was kind of mean. She was a literature teacher and I had always been good with books. I don’t even remember how she won me over, I just know that I went from dreading her class to loving it.
She could write with both her hands, a skill that I replicated. If there was ever a day that she couldn’t make it, I would be very upset. She’s one of the reasons I believe that children or teenagers rather deserve someone who sees beyond what they show they are capable of. A little more. And then again, a little more.
S
Mrs Leah Bulus! My Tax Law Lecturer.
One of the few reasons I took on the path of Taxation. So, in a class of over 180 students, many people avoided Taxation Law because well, it’s a fact that ‘most lawyers hate maths’ so, most of my colleagues were deterred from choosing Taxation Law as an elective. At the end of the day, we were just about 15 students who decided to dedicate time and space to Taxation.
Mrs Leah Bulus was one of the two lecturers who took the course. She was kind, patient, willing to answer questions, and willing to point out areas she was also struggling to understand. She’d ask the class alongside her to research answers around those areas. Now, due to her patience, I developed a great love for Taxation Law.
When it was time for my undergraduate long essay, I reached out to her. I told her I needed to write on Taxation Law and I needed her input. She swung into immediate action, recommended several topics. One amongst the topics she recommended earned me my A. She was there each step of the way, when I reached out for her guide, she guided me. Awesome woman!
Today, I dream, breathe, and enjoy Tax Law. I’ve moved to become an Associate with the Chartered Institute for Taxation in Nigeria, I’ve applied and received admission to pursue a Master’s in Tax Law in different institutions in the world. Mrs Leah Bulus held my hands through it.
Before I knew about the need for a reference at the academic level, she reached out and told me she’d always be my referee whenever I am ready. She stayed true to her words. When I stayed on pursuit for a Master of Laws in Tax Law, she referred me, and I got admitted. Though I didn’t pursue that for reasons beyond my control, she kept her presence visible.
When I reached out again, she referenced me for my current Masters programme (in Legislative Drafting). I am currently pursuing this programme because she took a chance on me, guided me, and loved me her own way through it all.
Fun fact: She was a lecturer that a lot of people didn’t really say great things about. People said she was too strict, too this and too that. However, working with her, I realised she was just a disciplined woman. Once you were disciplined too, you’d work perfectly well with her.
I am absolutely grateful to her.
Angel Nduka-Nwosu is a writer, journalist and editor. She moonlights occasionally as a podcaster on As Angel Was Sayin’. Catch her on all socials @asangelwassayin.