Jahmar Bennett is a Business Studies Lecturer at Merton College. Here, Jahmar tells us what inspired him to become a teacher and how he motivates his students:
Jahmar said: “I am fortunate to have several teachers in my family and my Dad ran a youth club in our local church for many years. After graduating with a degree in Business and Sociology, I began to volunteer at the youth club and it was a great experience to do youth work within the same community where I grew up. I continued to do this for a few years, designing activity programmes, organising trips and managing the football team. My voluntary work inspired me to become a teacher, so I went on to complete a full PGCE qualification.
It’s important that our students relate their learning to the real world, so I try to design assignments and activities that they are interested in and that are relevant to them. For example, I support learners to produce creative videos, posters and presentations for a marketing campaign or help them develop ideas for their own business. I am enthusiastic about supporting our learners to develop their entrepreneurial skills, so web-design and business assignments based on their own ideas add genuine understanding and allow the them to utilise the resources available to them.
It’s a real joy to see our learners progress. From Level 1 through to Level 3, I am very proud of how our students support each other and work actively towards their bright futures.”
