'In this environment, everybody is welcome' — 2024 Teaching Award recipient Rita-Eresia Eke shares her classroom philosophy

Rita Eresia-Eke, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Science, has been teaching undergraduate courses at the University for the past four years. She reflects on her initial teaching experiences with humility and enthusiasm.

“I was really, really anxious for my first teaching lab, but I survived it. The students survived it. We survived each other. And that gave me the encouragement I needed,” she says.

Eresia-Eke is a 2024 recipient of the University of Calgary Teaching Award for Graduate Assistants (Teaching).  The award recognizes the teaching excellence of individual graduate students who are employed as graduate assistants, who often play a unique role in connecting with students to help them learn the concepts and processes of a field of study and gain confidence as independent learners.

While Eresia-Eke has thought about being a teacher from a young age, always looking up to those who taught her, she credits her father as her inspiration and the foundational reason for her interest in teaching.  She fondly remembers how they used to do her math homework together, which was a way to both learn and spend time together.

“The most important thing that he did was that he came down to my level,” says Eresia-Eke, reflecting on time spent with her father. “He got my full attention, and whatever he was trying to explain was better received and understood.”

Eresia-Eke is intentional about creating an inclusive classroom environment.

“I realize that everybody comes from different backgrounds. And they may have anxiety, concerns, and they may also be at different learning levels. So, I make sure they know that in this environment, everybody is welcome.”

“I deliberately go around the class and try to see where the students are at and ensure that, I’m saying ‘I see you, you are a part of this class, you are included.’" says Eresia-Eke. “I like to communicate directly with the students because that opens doors for continued conversations.”

“When students are able to come to you with questions or concerns and it just makes it better, the whole class is able to learn and grow together and be successful in the class together.”

Eresia-Eke isn’t sure where her career path will take her, but she’s certain of her identity as an educator.

“I think I will always be a teacher. I see myself always in that space. And I would continue to do that irrespective of where I find myself — whether it’s industry or academia.”