Spotlight on Njilefac Atem, Teach2030 Cameroon Ambassador and Lead Partner for Dewey School

Njilefac has been a Teach2030 Ambassador for 6 months and, in that time, she has co-hosted a workshop and been an advocate for CET and Teach2030 not only in Cameroon, but across the world. Njilefac plays an integral role in our partnership with our UK school, Gordon’s, where she leads and co-ordinates teachers in Dewey School, helping to establish and maintain the Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs).

Njilefac has reflected on her experience, particularly of the impact of the Teach2030 Growth Mindset Course. 

Your mind is a thought factory: it produces based on the raw materials you feed it, so fill your mind with growth mindset words, so your thoughts will create the reality that you want to see in your learners.

At Dewey International School of Applied Sciences, I hold the post of the Head of Science and teacher for year 6, 8 (science) and year 12,13 (biology) respectively. We are an inclusive school in which many of our students come from French backgrounds. At my school, professional development is stipulated in the teachers’ hand book. Each teacher is required to complete at least 5 pdq courses each academic year. I always did the British council partner school online courses.

I was super excited when I was called upon by the principal and Cambridge coordinator at my school to be a part of the Gordon’s Dewey mentorship program last year (2022). There, I got to learn about Teach2030 online courses; I got very interested and did almost 8 courses in just a week. All the courses were very practical and provided room for practice and feedback. Offering these courses has helped to transform my professional career, classroom practices and the feedback I get from my learners is just awesome. I love trying new teaching strategies and methods, especially active learning strategies., and Teach2030 courses addresses all of these demands. I get a lot of job satisfaction from what I do now because of all the tools I have acquired from Teach2030 online courses – which is life long lasting.

I strongly believe that teaching ends when a teacher stops learning. Being an ambassador of Teach2030 has permitted me to share with other teachers and educators the joy of learning new classroom strategies, improving on our teaching practices and getting perfect feedback from our learners who are best suited for an ever-changing world.

No matter the curriculum we use or classroom size, the teaching methods and strategies proposed by Teach2030 online courses can be applied in every case.

Growth mindset has been one of my most cherished Teach 2030 online courses because it has really helped to shape how I perceive my profession, myself and how I interact with my learners and colleagues. After taking this course, I decided to start using the action plan template I got from the course to prepare for my next lessons and for my personal growth. Anytime I’m faced with a challenge, I check out with my action plans to get things in place. This has helped me to follow up with my classroom challenges.

Teachers being builders of lives and destinies all have to adopt a growth mindset.

Growth mindset was a concept developed by Carol Dweck, a Stanford university psychologist that refers to the belief that one’s abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning. This approach to learning is in contrast to a fixed mindset that holds that one’s ability and intelligence are fixed and cannot be changed. Adopting a growth mindset can have a positive impact on students learning and academic success. When students believe that they can improve their ability through efforts and hard work, they are more likely to persevere in the face of challenges and setbacks. They also turn to be more open to feedback and constructive criticism, which can help them learn and grow.

Promoting a growth mindset in education can have a positive impact on students learning and academic success. Educators can foster a growth mindset by providing regular feedback that focuses on the process of learning rather than just the outcome. They can also provide opportunities for teachers to take the PDQ and try new things, encourage corporation between different schools thus incorporating activities that focus on persistence, creativity and culture sharing.

To read more about the advice Njilefac provides to teachers, read her blog Growth Mindset for Everyone through Teach2030; A Way Forward for Everyone in Education. To partner with the Commonwealth Education Trust, email partnerships@commonwealtheducationtrust.org