•Don list benefits of collaborative effort in teaching profession

By Rita Ugo

The Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Oto/Ijanikin, joined the global community to celebrate the 2025 World Teachers Day as part of its contribution to the profession.

The event brought together LASUED management, key academic figures, staff, students, and education stakeholders with the theme: “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession.”

In her speech LASUED Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye, commended teachers for their resilience, commitment, and invaluable contributions to national development, emphasizing the need for a united and collaborative approach to teaching.

She explained that the concept of teaching as a collaborative profession was not merely a slogan but a powerful call to action. According to her, the modern educational landscape demands synergy, teamwork, and shared innovation among educators to effectively respond to global challenges. Collaboration, she noted, is the key to unlocking the full potential of teachers and students alike.

“Collaboration is not just about sharing lesson plans, it is about building a robust support system, fostering innovation, and collectively advocating for the changes needed to uplift the profession”, she noted, specifically mentioning three critical areas: teacher-to-teacher collaboration, school-community collaboration and teacher-policy maker collaboration.

She also highlighted the persistent challenges confronting teachers in the country, including inadequate remuneration, poor working conditions, and limited opportunities for professional development. She stressed that the quality of education is directly tied to teachers’ welfare and demanded for an immediate action to address the systemic neglect that undermines motivation and learning outcomes.

She reaffirmed LASUED’s commitment to producing globally competitive, collaborative, and ethically sound educators who would lead Nigeria’s educational transformation. “The university will continue to serve as a centre for research, dialogue, and innovative solutions to challenges facing the teaching profession,” she added.

The VC also urged Nigerians to honour teachers not only with celebration but also with consistent support and collaboration. Said she: “Let us work hand in hand to create an educational system where teachers are revered, empowered, and truly collaborative, and in doing so would secure a brighter and more prosperous future for the nation.”

The guest speaker, Prof. Adewale Jeremiah Gbenga in his lecture stressed that people should be able to obtain a certain level of education. He explained the meaning of the theme using the key words; Recasting, teaching, collaborative and profession.

He explained Recasting as an act of expressing or restructuring something in a new or different way without changing its original meaning or purpose; Teaching as the act or process of helping someone learn by giving knowledge, explaining ideas, showing how to do things, or guiding their thinking and behavior; Collaborative as working together with others to achieve a common goal or complete a task; Profession as a type of job or career that requires special education, training, or skills.

Prof. Gbenga, from the Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, argued that an effective teacher should be able to know the perfect teaching style to use on their students, as most students differ in their level of understanding and should also provide conducive feedbacks and encouragement to the students.

He disclosed that there are different types of collaboration such as teacher-teacher collaboration, where two teachers can collaborate, teacher-student collaboration. Students can also collaborate with other students to learn such as a study groups.

He revealed that the benefits of collaborative teaching are; enhances teachers morale and job satisfaction; increases innovation and creativity; gives better support for diverse student needs.

The guest lecture revealed the methods teachers can collaborate which are; local interaction or community of practice; through google classrooms; joint reflection; use of digital technology among businesses, co-planning, and co-teaching.

“Embracing collaboration, educators can be great and be dynamic, supportive and effective in the learning environment which also benefits students and other educational community,” he said.