Christian Okonkwo, NQT maths teacher

Stockport Academy, Stockport

Why did you become a member of the teaching profession?

I joined teaching first of all because I love young kids and the subject I teach is something I am very passionate about.
It was my best subject at secondary school. I had a very good teacher at school and he made me believe that maths was something that could be done by anybody

This is why I enjoy teaching – to encourage young kids that they can do anything that they want. I enjoy teaching because I can motivate children to believe in themselves, whatever they want to achieve in life they can achieve it, so long as they have the determination to do it.

I have achieved it and I believe anyone can with the right motivation and discipline.

What do you like most about teaching?

One of the things I like most about teaching is that it is a professional job and you are dealing with young kids and you are changing there direction in life.

These children are the future generation of this country so you are shaping them to be a good citizen so they are going to be very effective wherever they are. I want to help my pupils achieve success, not only in mathematics but in every area of whatever they want to do in life.

Why did you join the NASUWT?

I joined all the main unions while training but the NASUWT were the most consistent and there materials were very useful. The training has been excellent and I have found it very useful as a teacher.

The support I have been getting from the local reps has also been great. The support I have got from this union has been so immense I decided this was the union I wanted to remain in.

What challenges have you faced as a new teacher?

There are a number of challenges which face us in teaching, the number one being behaviour, which obviously everyone has experienced. Some of the students…because they don’t want to be at school ask what the point is of doing tasks because they won’t use it outside. There are behaviour issues in the classroom. Low level disruption in the classroom is also an issue.

Another challenge that I have faced is being able to get all the support that I need. Some times I wasn’t getting all the support I needed as a new teacher. But all of these challenges they help you to become a better teacher in the future.