Usman Iqbal

Usman’s ambition and passion for teaching has allowed him to achieve a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Primary Education (with QTS) as well as becoming a Maths leader within my second year of teaching. This was in an OFSTED rated ‘outstanding’ four-form entry school in inner-city London; with a high percentage of pupils who had English as a second language. Alongside this, He was also a Year 3 class teacher.

Prior to this, he was in another inner-city school in the North of England where he taught in Year 4. He has just over 2 yearsof experience teaching the English National Curriculum. However, he is extremely familiar with this curriculum as it is what he used whilst training to become a teacher. He has also worked with groups of pupils in Years 5 and 6 to support them in excelling and achieving the ‘Greater Depth’ standard. Therefore, as a Year 4 class teacher, he understands what pupils should previously know and also where they should
be by the end of the year.

As mentioned, he has a degree in Primary Education, and as part of his degree, he was able to specialise in Mathematics. His enthusiasm for Mathematics stems from the phrase, ‘some people are just not good at Maths.’ Why this phrase? It is one he often heard people use growing up and he completely disagree with it. So as a practitioner, he finds myself drawn to Carol Dweck’s philosophy of ‘growth mindset.’ There is no such absolute as not being good at something. We may not be good yet, but with the right processes in place and the belief that we can achieve and succeed beyond what is expected, we can be good – we can do better than good – we can be amazing! This philosophy can be applied to every form of learning, no matter the subject or skill.

Studying Psychology in his A-Levels, he developed an interest in how we learn and the processes of learning. The greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, said, ‘I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.’ As an educator, Usman tries to remove the fear of failure from his pupils as this is one of the biggest obstacles to learning. With a growth mindset, pupils can learn to analyse their own learning and take ownership over it.

Usman loves his job.  In the words of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), ‘come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination.’ As cliche as it sounds, educators are able to open the minds of their pupils to a world of knowledge, that a moment ago, might not have existed. Every single time they enter the classroom, they discover new things. It is a truly fascinating job, of which the children are the focus. The learning experience belongs to them, so he believes they should be in control of it. He is there as a facilitator for this.