My commitment to classroom pedagogy is based on a student-centred practice of knowledge production that I have practised since I first taught grammar and composition at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. At Ibadan, I became fascinated with the verbs to be, to do, and to have. These auxiliary verbs became symbolic of my role as a teacher-scholar: providing a safe learning environment that fosters active learning. I have sought to do this over the years by creating the conditions under which the most original and inventive ideas in the classroom could emerge. Therefore, for students to be and become more tolerant and ethical in their academic journey; for them to do all that is required for the development of critical thinking skills and expertise in their subject areas, and for them to have a sense of community and empathy in a polarized culture, these are some of the values I aspire to when interacting with students at any level of learning.
What I get as a professor is probably fine, but more important is what I give. Especially as a teacher. Teaching offers me an incredible opportunity to connect with students who know they are valued, not as customers in any neoliberal sense of the modern university, but as partners in the process of knowledge production. Hence, I am always looking to encourage student agency and participation; from my experiences, this means creating a space that is empathetic, gracious, and sufficiently conducive to the stimulation of intellectual curiosity and active learning.
At the University of Kansas, I teach introductory courses in African studies, African literature, African digital cultures, Black masculinities, and the intersections of social media and African popular culture. I currently teach the following courses
AAAS 323: Social Media and African Popular Cultures.
AAAS 323: Black Masculinities
I love the opportunity to connect my research to classroom experiences. Here is a paragraph from my teaching philosophy that I think about often:
My understanding of my role in the classroom is to mediate the experience of student-centered learning without interrupting the fullest expression of student agency. Besides, holding myself to the same standards I hold my students, I always strive to have a learning environment in which hierarchies are deconstructed, every voice is heard, and one in which every axis of interaction becomes the generating canvas for productive and engaging ideas.
–teaching philosophy
Previous first-year courses taught at Ibadan and Saskatoon.
ENG 114: Reading Culture. Fall, 2018. Department of English, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
ENG 112.3: Reading Drama. Winter, 2018. Department of English, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
GES 101: English Grammar and Composition. 2010-2013 General Studies Unit, University of Ibadan.
James Yékú 