Kayode Adewale, a Nigerian award-winning teacher from Imagbon/Imaka Comprehensive High School in Ogun State, has been shortlisted for the prestigious $1 million Global Teacher Prize (GTP), as announced on Tuesday. The Global Teacher Prize is awarded annually by the Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO and GEMS Education, celebrating teachers who have made exceptional contributions to their profession.
Adewale, 53, is known for incorporating technology with his native language to teach mathematics, a subject he has loved since his youth and pursued in higher education. The Global Teacher Prize praised Adewale’s indigenous initiatives and career achievements, highlighting their impact on 30,000 teachers and how they have helped students better understand complex mathematical concepts.
“His impact transcends the classroom. Kayode’s initiatives have trained over 30,000 teachers through the Transformation1090 Initiative, equipping them with the tools to integrate technology into their teaching practices,” the GTP said in a statement.
In addition, Adewale founded the Ogun517GoToSpace program, which encourages both students and educators to explore space science, partnering with global experts, including NASA professionals, to foster interest in STEM careers. He has also made a significant contribution to environmental education through projects like tree planting and climate change simulations, empowering students to understand their roles in promoting sustainability.
Adewale’s journey to the Global Teacher Prize began three years ago, after several attempts at the award. Despite his setbacks, he remained determined to reach his goal. He shared with The Punch in an interview on Sunday, “I, however, want to say that it did not come by accident; it is something I have been working on for the past three years now. I have been putting in my application for the prize for the past three editions but I have not gone up to the top 100.”
At one point, Adewale almost gave up on his dream, feeling discouraged by his previous failures. “In fact, I lost hope at a point and nearly failed to apply this year. For this year, I submitted my application on the last day because of the seeming discouragement. It was a dream come true for me when I got the notification that I had been shortlisted for the Global Teacher Prize interview,” he said.
Adewale sought advice from past winners, though they encouraged him to simply prepare to defend his application. “I got across to the past winners to demand from them what I should prepare for, but they said nothing, and that I should only prepare to defend what I stated in my application and that was it because the Holy Spirit assisted me in answering all the questions directed at me,” he explained.
Adewale is the only Nigerian on the shortlist, joining seven other finalists from Africa. He has consistently shown dedication to advancing education in Nigeria and Africa, especially in underserved communities. He explained his motivation for applying for the prize, saying, “It is $1m which is about N1bn, and what motivated me to apply for this prize was because of the numerous projects that I have in mind to execute to further expand the frontiers of excellence in teaching and learning in Nigeria and Africa.”
He plans to use the prize money to reach more underserved communities in Africa, with a focus on educational empowerment. “I want to be able to reach many more underserved communities in the continent. I want to scale down my technology-assisted instructional management into an app that students in Africa can use. This and many other projects ahead of me informed my decision to go for this noble prize.”
Adewale’s pedagogical approach reflects his belief in culturally relevant teaching methods, particularly his advocacy for using students’ native languages during early childhood education. He is inspired by the legacy of Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, Nigeria’s first professor of education, who championed the use of indigenous languages for teaching. Adewale shared his experience of teaching mathematics using the Ijebu dialect, saying, “Yes, the approach I use in teaching mathematics in class is called culturally relevant pedagogy. This means using the primary language of the students or those things that the students are very familiar with to use them as instructional aids when teaching.”
As an Ijebu man teaching in Ijebu Land, Adewale found that using the local dialect helped engage students who otherwise would not show interest. “The very first day I used the dialect to teach in the class, I found out that some students who had been passive and would ordinarily not show interest became interested in what we were doing. I told the students, ‘Le mo lajiga nu yin.’ Lajiga in Ijebu is something that looks like a cylinder such as a pail or bucket that we use to fetch water to bath or wash our clothes,” he explained.
This experience led Adewale to adopt the use of local dialects in his teaching method, particularly in underserved communities where such practices are not widespread. He began promoting this pedagogical style online, creating a Facebook page and YouTube channel in 2020 to share his approach. Like Professor Fafunwa, Adewale is a strong advocate for using indigenous languages to impart knowledge.
Throughout his career, Adewale has received numerous accolades, including being named Ogun State’s best senior secondary school teacher in 2020. He also won 30 laptops from Co-Creation Hub for his school in 2019, was named Ogun State Maltina Best Teacher of the Year in 2022, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Programme.
Adewale’s dedication to education, particularly in underserved communities, and his innovative approach to teaching have earned him recognition both in Nigeria and internationally. His passion for improving education in Africa and his efforts to empower teachers and students through technology and culturally relevant pedagogy make him a standout candidate for the Global Teacher Prize.
