Teaching Chose Me: My Path to Becoming an Educator

The noble profession, teaching, is a calling.

While some are naturally drawn into teaching, others grow into the role and develop into great teachers over time. As the son of a teacher, I have observed first-hand the impact teachers have on their students. I have seen the dedication and passion my father had for his job. I witnessed how he managed to ignite this same passion for his subject matter in his students. As I took my first steps into the profession, I realised my teaching style was greatly influenced by several key influences. My father was my first role model, but I have also drawn influences from several of my lecturers from the University of Ghana, namely Professor Enu Kwesi, Dr. Markwei and Dr (Mrs.) Eureka Adomako. Since I joined this profession, I have noticed that some teachers do not share this same passion for teaching. The profession is just a job, simply a means to make a living. 

This is a short story on how I got called.

The year was 2015. I was wrapping up the proofreading and editing of my thesis, the most important requirement of the Master of Philosophy degree I was then pursuing at the University of Ghana. As I saved the document, a voice in my head whispered, “Ellis, you should go teach.”

I paused, then asked, “Why?”.

“You teach in everything that you do. On the football field, you teach. At the gym, you teach. Any opportunity you get, you are teaching someone. Go and teach.” 

I immediately opened Mozilla Firefox and googled the requirements to be a teacher in Ghana. I realised I needed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education since I already had a Bachelors Degree in Botany and was completing up my Master of Philosophy degree in Botany. Valley View University was the closest institute to my home that offered the Postgraduate Diploma in Education; I sent in my application that same day. I phoned my mother and told her I had applied for a teaching qualification and that I would be needing money to pay my fees! Can you imagine? She was not too happy with me. That was never part of the plan. Teachers do not earn much, especially in this part of the world. My mind was made up. I believed that my purpose was to ignite a love for science in the students I was fortunate enough to teach. It has been eight years since I started teaching, and I have no regrets.