Emmanuel Shebbs

I have Bachelor of Science Degree, Masters Degree and PhD Degree.

I developed passion for teaching as soon as I completed my Bachelors’ Degree in Public Policy from the University of Calabar. It was at this point that I took up a role as Teaching Assistant in Abia State University Elementary School. My experience as a Teaching Assistant at this time gave me the opportunity to interact with children in the rural areas where I made reasonable impacts in their lives while mentoring them as well as assisting them to learn at their pace.

Basic education was very important in Nigeria, so I assisted the main teacher to teach basic science and arts to elementary school kids such as English and Mathematics. I organised the class and assisted the pupils with class tasks and made sure each one of them went in the flow of the class, at their own pace. As a Teaching Assistant, one experience remained in my memory and has formed the foundation of my skill in teaching.

While doing this job, I functioned as a private home tutor for a child (who I will call pupil X) on the sidelines, where I organized tutorial sessions to help pupil X come up to speed by organizing revision classes for him in English and Basic Mathematics. The parents of pupil X confirmed to me that they witnessed an upward leap in pupil X’s ability to read and understand Basic Science after I took him through one-on-one tutorials for 21 days. This achievement reinforced my commitment to always put in my best in teaching and mentorship as each child is peculiar in his/her own.

As a result of my sound records of achievement, I was privileged to be selected among other teachers to attend some trainings which were organized by my employer within the period I worked as a Teaching Assistant which helped me acquire transferable skills such as classroom management, SEND education and child psychology.

My passion for teaching coupled with positive results after annual assessments awarded me a redeployment to secondary school teaching. In this new role, I taught history, government and other social science subjects to students in secondary school. I had the opportunity of acquiring more skills and broadening my knowledge in classroom management by attending series of trainings organised by my employer.

I conducted curriculum reviews and assisted students who were preparing for GCSE during this period. I recorded 95 percent success rate in my GCSE classes which qualified the school to obtain full accreditation during the national review by the secondary education regulatory authority. As a result of these achievements, the school was accredited as a Biometric Registration Centre for the West African Examination Council where I play a frontline role in ensuring the biometric exercise was carried on seamlessly.

This experience helped me to gain robust in the technological aspect of education administration while working as a Secondary School Teacher.

I proceeded in my teaching career to the tertiary institution where I taught as a university lecturer in Abia State University. In this role, I was exposed to teaching and research at a higher level. I worked with colleagues in satisfying the teaching needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students in and out of the classroom.

I acquired skills in various research methods which gave me the ability to apply my knowledge to solving social problems. I believe in personal development, so I went further to obtain Masters Degree in Public Policy which I finished with Distinction grade. This helped me to qualify me to perform bigger and better roles for my in the university.

As a result-oriented staff, I was severally recognized and honoured by my employer for my creativity and innovation in discovering digital ways of teaching students via the Learning Management Systems platform during the Covid-19 pandemic which caused a global lockdown and affected physical interaction between teachers and students which was the conventional way of teaching during the pre-Covid era. As a teacher in the university, I provided support for undergraduate students who needed more learning assistance to par up with the demands of their curriculum. I was appointed to head the diversity, disability and minority students committee.

My role in this job was offer advice to the management on how best to create support systems for vulnerable students and those from minority groups. While in this role, I provided trending solutions to students with disabilities and those from minority groups. While in this role, I also investigated and addressed series of exclusion petitions emanating from minority students in respect of how they were being treated and ensured equal access was provided for to address the teaching and learning needs of students in this category.

In one of the instances, I proposed a special assistive hearing computer room for students with hearing difficulties to be installed in the university library where they go to playback their lectures because the regular university computer systems were not equipped with such devices.

As a voracious and ambitious academic, I embarked on the journey to acquire a Doctorate Degree which lasted from 2019 to 2023. My training as a PhD student equipped me with the ability to embark on independent research with the use of statistical, qualitative and quantitative research tools. Also, as a PhD student, I did three months summative placement in mentorship and academic skills training which afforded the opportunity to mentor 10 students from various levels of higher education.

I provided them with adequate training on academic skills development. Three out of the 10 students I mentored came out with distinction and one of the three was awarded scholarship to the United States of America. In the last year of my PhD studies, I was required to produce academic paper, present same in a seminar and publish in an academic journal.

This exercise led me to publishing of about nine academic papers in several international peer reviewed journals.

Over the course of my training and teaching career, I have acquired outstanding knowledge and expertise in the use of several teaching and research skills such as Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Software, Nvivio Qualitative Research Software, Quantitative Research Methodology, Qualitative Research Methodology, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, Virtual Learning and Teaching Methodology, Learning Management System, Education Consultation and Administration Skills, Special Education Needs Skills among others. These skills have armed me up the more to be a better instructor and teacher.

As an energetic and dedicated teacher of over nine years of experience in primary, secondary and tertiary schools, I teach public services, politics and government, public and business law, human rights law, international law, social development, social works and other law and social science related subjects to students of all ages. I have ability to engage students and achieve excellence in the transfer of knowledge with the use of relevant classroom skills, including person-to-person and one-to-one tutorship for children of all ages. I have mastery over the use of technological tools and equipment for teaching and communication, including learning management systems.

I currently rounded up my Master of Arts Degree in Global Development in the University of East Anglia, England which I started September, 2023. While undergoing this study, I had the opportunity to organise tutorial for my classmates who had difficulties understanding the basic concepts of the module, especially given that I had done a postgraduate programme previously. I led seminar groups where conducted researches about governance and the UK political and security systems.

My experience in the UK (as a student and as a teacher) juxtaposed with my previous experiences have given me opportunity to have a global perspective of the education system, making me more competent to deal with students from all backgrounds. I have been able to filter my experiences in Africa with that of the UK, offering me the opportunity to be a better teacher, scholar and instructor as I can combine global perspectives to teaching and academic practice. I can comfortably engage with students of all social, religious, cultural and racial backgrounds and transfer knowledge to them with full records of success.

I find myself very competent to occupy teaching and academic support roles given my academic experience, professional experience and personal skills. Prospectively, I am currently working towards my Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in the coming year, 2025. This next chapter of my career is to engage in personal development and acquire more skills in education and in the end, provide better services to my employer.