Adnan Mahmood has been a teacher for only five years, but he has already made quite an impact.
In 2015, he was awarded the title of VQ Teacher of the Year by the Edge Foundation. But this was only the start: the business and enterprise tutor at Barking and Dagenham College in East London last week discovered that he was in the running for the $1 million (£800,000) Global Teacher Prize.
The accolade, awarded by the not-for-profit Varkey Foundation, aims to recognise “one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession and shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society”. This year it was won by Hanan Al Hroub, a teacher from Palestine.
Mahmood tells TES he was elated to be named on the shortlist and recognised as one of the world’s top teachers. “I’m just completely overwhelmed and shocked and surprised, and it’s a fantastic achievement to be top 50,” he says. “It’s an honour. It makes me laugh, I can’t believe it.
‘I’m passionate about enterprise education and putting that at the forefront’
“I’m passionate about enterprise education and putting that at the forefront because, for Barking and Dagenham College, enterprising entrepreneurship is very important for us. So it’s great to see that FE is being showcased as well.”
Mahmood started out as a maths teacher in 2012, but soon took on delivering business studies to Barking and Dagenham College’s students. He sees his role as “getting learners engaged and supporting their business ideas”, with the aim of giving them the confidence to “stand up in front of CEOs and directors, and pitch their concepts”.
“It’s about getting them into this kind of environment and preparing them for the real world,” he adds.
Seeking to cultivate his students’ global awareness, Mahmood has also worked with the Pants to Poverty campaign to raise more than £4,000 through students selling Fairtrade underwear - winning a national competition and travelling to India as a result.
Real-life scenarios
His teaching also seeks to incorporate global awareness and multicultural themes. “It’s all about invigorating future learning and assessment, and making the assessments purposeful,” he explains.
“For example, in our business curriculum we’ve created a whole Dragons’ Den concept as part of their assessment. That was hugely successful, and some of our students managed to win a pop-up shop and funding for that. So it’s just creating real-life scenarios for our students that they can engage with.”
Mahmood joins three other UK teachers on the shortlist: Nathan Atkinson, headteacher at Richmond Hill Primary School in Leeds; Raymond Chambers, a computer science teacher from Brooke Weston Academy in Corby; and Peter Ferris, a drama teacher from Mercy College in Belfast.
Another FE teacher - Richard Spencer from Middlesbrough College - made it through to the final 10 contenders for the 2015 prize.
The modest Mahmood insists that he has no expectations of going one better. But even if he does claim the top award (not to mention the $1 million in prize money) he says he has no plans to swap Barking for the Bahamas. Rather, he would simply work to expand his current approach, “but on a global scale to foster global entrepreneurship”.
@willmartie
