Ayo Adedokun in the running for title ‘Teacher of the Year 2022’
Ayo Adedokun, Assistant Professor at Leiden University College (LUC) in The Hague, is one of the four finalists in the running for the title ‘Teacher of the Year 2022’. The yearly election is organized by the Interstedelijk Student Overleg, the largest national student organization in the Netherlands, to celebrate good teachership and is held for the 8th time. Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf, will announce the winner on 19 April.
In September last year, Adedokun won the LUS Teaching Price during the opening ceremony of the academic year. The LUS Teaching Price is the price for best teacher of the year organized by the Leiden University Student Platform.
While selecting the nominees for the national price, the jury paid special attention to the collaboration between student and teacher. The jury consists of five persons, including three students. The political scientist at LUC impressed the LUS jury last year with the way he interacted with students during the pandemic. He took them on long walks to find out how they were doing.
He also played jazz music in the breaks to bring inner peace to the students. And organised coaching sessions in which students were invited to think and philosophise about their lives after graduation. These included topics such as careers and further opportunities for self-development.
Grant of 25,000 euros
In the finale on 19 April Adedokun goes head-to-head with Astrid Timman-Jacobse (University of Applied Sciences Arnhem-Nijmegen), Reinoud Lavrijsen (Technical University Eindhoven), and Renske de Beijer (InHolland University of Applied Sciences). The winner will receive a grant of 25,000 euros for education and/or research, facilitated by the Comenius network and the Ministry of OCW. The winner will also be appointed as honorary member of the Comenius network during the following year, and he or she will also take home a trophy that has been designed by students of the Academy of Arts Utrecht.