Celebrating World Teachers’ Day in Nottingham

To mark the United Nations’ World Teachers’ Day, we spoke to Nisreen Mohamedali of the Dawoodi Bohra community of Nottingham about why she became a teacher and what the profession means to her.

Nisreen is a social science teacher, focussing on psychology and sociology. As Head of Department at Bluecoat Aspley Academy, she manages the social science teachers, helping to ensure that all students are making progress in their classes through effective teaching and learning opportunities. Nisreen is 38 and has been teaching for 12 years.

My career in education was an inevitability. I grew up in a household where my parents reminded me on a daily basis about how important education is and how a good education can change your life.

After I graduated, I tried out a few different jobs and I knew that a desk job wouldn’t be for me. I worked in an inner-city school and loved the varied nature of my days, my interactions with young people, and a feeling of satisfaction at the end of each day.  I then completed my teacher training, and over a decade later I still love all of those things and more about my work.

I teach psychology and sociology in a secondary school to students aged between 14-18 in Nottingham. Teaching teenagers can be a challenge: there are hormones raging and they’re on the cusp of adulthood pushing all of the boundaries!  Days are long, the marking is immense, and the demands on teachers to fulfil a wider role that encompasses work akin to a social worker means that teaching is not for the faint hearted.

Despite this, it’s an immensely rewarding career. Teaching social science subjects means that I can have discussions about real world issues such as mental health, and each discussion will be different to the last. Exam results day in August is the highlight of the year, especially seeing the students I taught from an early age starting university, pursuing their dreams, and knowing that I played a small part in the creation of their future.

Students challenge me and entertain me, and I’m privileged to be part of the “profession that creates all other professions.”