Autobiography: My path to teaching

I was born into a family where both of my parents worked in the education sector. My father was a Primary School Teacher and my mother was a Storekeeper at a Secondary School. Education was therefore a cornerstone topic in our household. For many years, my father taught students that were preparing for the Common Entrance Examination. I remember how happy he was when his students made progress with their work, went on to do well in exams and were able to move to their new secondary schools. As I reflect on some of those early conversations around teaching, I can now more fully appreciate my father’s growth mindset. He believed that with effective guidance, students were capable of improving if they put in the effort.

From a very early age, my sister and I spent a lot of our free time playing in our garden. My curiosity about the natural environment was sparked in my backyard. The flowering plants and fruit trees attracted a wide array of creatures, ranging from birds, butterflies, iguanas, snakes, owls, manicous, etc. There was always an air of excitement when I spotted creatures that popped by to visit. My curiosity about these creatures prompted me to find out more about them. During our school vacations, my family spent time visiting various beaches across Trinidad and then later Tobago. Once again, during those visits my attention was on the natural environment and the creatures that one could find there e.g. chip-chip, Portuguese Man o’ War, sea cockroaches, etc. During those early days, my parents also prompted my sister and I to take up reading as a hobby. In addition to borrowing books from the various libraries, an important source of information was the newspapers that my parents bought on a daily basis. The books and articles we read were important conversation starters in our house. An aunt who lived abroad also mailed me packets of newspaper articles related to the natural environment. My family collectively ensured that we took learning beyond the confines of the classroom.

Once I completed my undergraduate degree, I worked for one year as an Education Officer at the Pointe-a-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust. The groups that visited the Trust were from diverse educational levels; pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary. This was my first time designing age-appropriate participatory learning activities for different groups. As an Education Officer, I had a brief window of time (approximately 2 to 3 hours) with each group. Yet, during that time, I managed to utilize a suite of tools to enhance learning e.g., practical exercises, documentaries, group discussions, posters and signs, etc.

When I started my MPhil degree in Environmental Biology in 2008, I simultaneously performed the role of a demonstrator for a few undergraduate courses. In that role, I was responsible for (i) providing guidance to small groups of students either during a field trip or a laboratory exercise and, (ii) grading coursework assessments. Demonstrators play an important role in the lives of undergraduate students as their guidance is critical towards helping students understand the more practical aspects of courses. Towards the end of my MPhil, I later took on the more advanced role of Teaching Assistant and then Instructor. In those roles, my teaching responsibilities gradually increased to a point where I was responsible for lab briefings, tutorials and coordinating the grading of coursework assessments. I have therefore performed each of the teaching roles within our discipline.

Once I completed my PhD, I began teaching undergraduate level courses in the BSc. Biology degree (Marine Biology Specialization) and the BSc. Environmental Science and Sustainable Technology degree under the mentorship of Professor Judith Gobin and Dr. Azad Mohammed. Initially, when I started teaching in 2019, I tried to maintain the ‘Status Quo’. However, during that year, I paid attention to what was working well, what wasn’t working well and noted any improvements that I could make. The next year that I delivered those courses, I was able to make improvements and have continued to advocate for positive change. Almost 3.5 years after teaching undergraduate level courses in multiple settings (pre-pandemic, pandemic, post-pandemic), I enrolled in the Certificate in Undergraduate Teaching and Learning (CUTL) program. Within this program, I have received tremendous support from our Course Coordinators (Dr. Leroy Hill and Dr. Justine Zephyrine) and the CETL team. Having received formal training in undergraduate teaching in the 2022/2023 academic year, I am now looking forward to the new academic year with much hope and enthusiasm.