Mrs. Faustine Agbovi teaches Integrated Science at Apewosika MA JHS. She teaches between thirty to fifty students per class and has been teaching for eighteen years.
Even though Faustine was very good in science when she was in school, she wanted to become a business tycoon when she grew up. However, she wanted to be in the Agric sector, so her father convinced her to read Agricultural Science in Senior High School. From there, she attended the University of Education, Mampong to pursue a degree course where she finally decided to become a teacher. Because she wants to reach greater heights in her profession, she enrolled in the University of Cape Coast and is currently pursuing a Masters in Science Education.
She was inspired to teach STEM for many reasons. First is the fact that she was good in science while in school. Secondly, she came to love teaching and making a positive impact on someone’s life. Faustine chose to teach science because the subject allows you to understand how the world works. There are new things to learn all the time, with different ways of approaching and solving problems. For her, this is why teaching STEM never gets boring.
Mrs. Agbovi has been a member of GAST for five years. Being a member of the organisation helps her to learn new methods for teaching, and helps her to get the materials needed for practical demonstrations and experiments. She enjoys teaching the practicals because the students are more involved and enjoy the lessons more. Therefore, she never skips the practical sessions despite the challenge of lack of materials for experiments.
The whole process of working with her students on the JUNEOS Challenge has taught her to improvise with materials commonly found around, so that the practical sessions with her students can be run all the time.
She was introduced to the JUNEOS Challenge by her district science coordinator. By participating in the challenge, she has been able to realize how students enjoy STEM when there is more activity. One of her highlights during the challenge was the way her students developed a genuine interest in STEM and always asked for practical examples after almost every class.
Faustine finds the JUNEOS Challenge a very interesting and successful program that needs to be encouraged and pushed for the benefit of more teachers and students. She also hopes that in the near future, schools can benefit more from JUNEOS Challenge with the provision of laboratory materials so that teachers can access them and do more practical experiments with students.
She hopes to be a part of the JUNEOS Challenge the next time it runs. For now, she uses the new methods that she has learnt to teach her students.
Article by Elizabeth Johnson.
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Elizabeth Johnson works as a researcher and project manager with Dr Monk and volunteers the rest of her time with the Writers Project of Ghana where she takes up various roles such as radio show production, social media management and administrator for their annual literary festival. She is a published writer who writes both fiction and non fiction and has won awards for her work.
