Some of the most valuable people on our team are our tutors. Mr Adebayo is a tutor on Gradely who has taught over 100 students in the last 2 years. We had a conversation with him on his drive to teach, and why his students do so well. Here’s how it went.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Adebayo Oluwadamilare. I am an educator and my superpower is listening. I am a very good listener. I like to listen to people because it’s an easier way to learn. So I guess that makes me a great learner. I am a teacher who is always in between two teaching contexts, the virtual and the physical. Nowadays, I’m more in the virtual than the physical. I used to be in the physical context a lot before but not as much anymore.
Why do you teach? What’s your daily drive to use learning and knowledge to make a difference?
When I was younger, I opened a tutorial and started teaching. It was something I loved to do, and money was not the driver. It’s more intrinsic for me. In my secondary school days, I attended a tutorial centre called “Adams Adebola” somewhere in Oshodi. The tutor there made me fall in love with teaching from the way he taught. The experience gave me a passion for teaching. It’s just natural and intrinsic for me.
What is your promise or commitment as a teacher to every student that you teach, on or off Gradely?
My promise to every learner is to teach them how to learn. Most of the emphasis we see nowadays is on “what” to learn and not “how” to learn. There is no personal drive because they don’t want to learn when they are not in school. When I found out how to learn, I took learning as my responsibility. That aspect is missing. Older students in the university or late secondary school carry out exam malpractice and will mostly choose not to study unless there’s an exam. So, one thing I want to do for every learner I come across is to help them know how to learn. Once that is in place, even if that learner is no longer in my class or has me as their tutor, they have an independent learning ability. Because the world is moving so fast, you will be left behind sooner rather than later if you don’t have the inner drive to learn.
How long have you been in teaching?
I have been teaching since 2008. That’s about 13 to 14 years now. I’ve been through several traditional school systems. I have helped prepare students for different examinations such as WAEC, TOEFL, and others using the South African, Kenyan, Nigerian, Indian, British and American curricula. I consult sometimes, and I handle people from different parts of the world. I see it as an opportunity to understand the learner’s behaviour. The way I teach is quite different. I simply ask my students what they are learning.
In my own words, I’d like to say that I see myself as just a learning supervisor and not a teacher. I have met different learners with different behaviours. There is a student that I teach in Gradely, and her name is Abigail. Abigail has her scheme of work, and she always knows what she is supposed to be doing. I let her determine her own learning pace, and I just supervise. I learn a lot from my students. I’ve come to learn recently from them that most of the time, they want to speak. They want to explore; they want to do it themselves. They want to be responsible for their learning, and we need to allow them to do these things themselves. Let them learn by doing. If I did something, it’s what I did and not what you told me to do. Telling me to do something is a different thing. But if I’m the one driving it, it’s something that I initiated, and it’s pretty easy for me to remember it.
Can you give us a situation when you noticed problems with your student’s learning experience, and you had to fix it?
You see, I am committed to redefining my students’ learning experiences for as long as I need to, to make them better learners. And when we talk about meaningful experiences, we have to always begin with the end in mind. My perspective of a learning experience is something that sticks. And for that to happen, it has to be initiated by the learner. We have to “get out” of the way of the learner.
I once had a student that I used to teach, and one day I told him that we were going to do an interview where I would ask him questions about all the things he’d been learning so far. He was so excited that he told his mum he had an interview with Mr Adebayo soon. When the interview day finally came, we conducted the interview, and I recorded it. When we were done, I edited the recording and sent it to his mum and him. I did it because, for him, he needed that kind of approach. It’s somewhat like project-based learning. He needed to have that learning experience because the everyday learning experience was not working for him. I wanted to give him an experience that he will never forget, and my idea worked.
Over time, I’ve seen that everything has to do with doing and seeing sinks. I like to create experiences that make learning more meaningful that will make the child value learning. Today, we have a generation of people that don’t value education. They just cram the content and pour it where necessary. I don’t want that for my learners.
I also do student-driven learning, particularly in the virtual context (like on Gradely) where I get students responsible for their learning process. Nowadays, we have a lot of school-driven learning, which shouldn’t be. I don’t believe in the strict school system. Resuming school by 8 am and closing at 4 pm. It is dangerous. What these students understand is that learning starts at 8 am and closes by 4 pm. And once they leave the school premises, there is a mental shift, and they stop learning. I don’t want to repeat that experience. I want my learners to drive their learning.
I am currently teaching a female student her Cambridge and A-level subjects virtually. I could be in class with her for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and I won’t say anything. And she won’t call me until she needs my help. I have created that atmosphere, and she has now been wired that way. So when she needs my help, she calls my attention. I am not taking over the space but simply keeping her connected to me. And I will not provide total support because I want to promote critical thinking. The learning doesn’t end there; I want my learners to be responsible. This is why even after the class, she continues learning, and you can be sure that the next time we meet, we won’t start from where we stopped. I create that kind of atmosphere where she is comfortable bringing in suggestions, and then we learn from each other. I want my students to be independent learners and to love learning. It’s not about the “what” but the “how”. Students will be able to learn without any support and even go ahead of the syllabus.
I also don’t believe in giving notes to my students, primarily from grades 10-12. Why would you give them notes? Instead, we have learning outcomes, and they put their notes together. When we come to class, we do a lot of discussion and practice, looking at questions and discussing their answers. We need to put learning into the kids’ hands and let them handle it while you are there as a supervisor, just checking and making sure everything is fine. It’s about skills, not about grades. I want them to learn how to do research and information gathering. My job is to ensure that I help them get to that point where they can learn independently, be more responsible, and learn more even at a shorter time. When our class ends, they continue learning.
When you try out these things, how do you know that they are effective?
Their grades. It helps me know that the methods are working. The students can learn more, and they know more. They have more resilience, and they don’t get discouraged from learning complex topics because they have come to love learning. They drive their learning. They stay on the problem for a long time until they solve it on their own. They have critical thinking. I once read a Linkedin article that said that the two skills needed in learning are resilience and digital fluency, which I imbibe in my students. I put them in an environment where they can think alone, while I come in once in a while. Because, after everything, they will be alone in the exam hall. So I have to create a simulation of the exam experience to help them do well in exams.
Do you have any last words for teachers trying to help their students learn better?
Definitely. First of all, you need to understand your learners. Are they visual learners, aural learners, kinesthetic learners or direct learners? Understanding the learner you are dealing with is foundational, and understanding their learning style will enable you to know how to approach the situation.
Many teachers don’t know the learners they are dealing with. There’s no feedback system, so they cannot understand what they are doing right or wrong. Schools need to be data-driven to assess what their teachers are doing right or wrong and what they need to upgrade. When you know your learner, the second thing you need to do is subscribe to the students’ pace and adapt student-driven learning methods. To be honest, when I was transitioning to student based learning some years ago, it was hard because I just wanted to teach, but that’s not what the learners wanted. They don’t want that. They want to do it. Have the understanding that your learners want to explore and do not be too helpful. They will remember what they initiate and do more than what you initiate and do.
For me, classwork time is game time, and when my students do well, there is virtual confetti that I play for them that gets them excited. I want my learners to be happy and not frustrated. Reward systems, virtual games or gifts, etc., are what encourage them to learn more. I just want to help my learners to become individual life-long learners that love learning. Stop teaching them what to learn. Teach them how to learn instead.
If you would like to get a free 60-minute tutor session with Mr Adebayo or any of our committed and experienced tutors on Gradely, please book one here.