Scholarship / Teaching students for life, not just for a Test: A Leadership Essay for the Chevening Scholarship [3]

Hello! I just wrote my Leadership Essay for the Chevening Scholarship and I would really appreciate any advice, I am not sure if I completely answered the question :)

Thanks!

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.

Teaching students for life, not just for a Test

During university, I had the opportunity to work on an introductory teaching project in a school near the border between XXXX and XXXX. The classes were in the evening and the students worked the whole day, so sometimes they were absent or extremely tired. I decided to do activities that would have a meaning for them by bringing Chemistry closer to their reality in order to empower them in their community. Hence, I addressed the Kinetics of Chemical Reactions with a focus on food preservation and decomposition. I used videos, data and graphics about food waste to encourage the discussion of social and environmental dilemmas, seeking to develop their critical and reflective thinking.

The students also interviewed the school cooks to obtain information about the amount of food wasted in the school. They were surprised by the large quantities and expressed indignation at the poor distribution of food, inequality and world hunger, pointing at some experiences. René, who worked in a supermarket, reported seeing tons of fruit and vegetables being wasted, while Luiz commented that the most important meal of his day was at school as there was not enough food at home. I encouraged them by showing that they play a fundamental role in society and I guided them to find a solution. Thus, they mentioned ways to reduce food waste within the school: preparing compost and vegetable gardens at the school with leftover food, informing the cooks how many students would eat per day, holding talks to raise awareness about the problem, etc. Then, we included these actions in a letter, signed by all the students and sent it to the School's Principal as a final project. He was impressed and started holding meetings to carry them out.

Being aware of different realities enriched my teaching practice and showed me that students need a space to express and participate actively. This project trained me to work as a team with other teachers at the school who, with their experience, told me how to understand the students considering each story. I developed my research skills; I broke down barriers by taking knowledge outside the University. I know that my actions had a big impact and influenced others, also that the students influenced the school, community and me. Leaders seek to make that impact by inspiring, but actually, they are constantly being inspired by others. Seeing my students giving opinions and creating solutions motivates me to think about what I could still improve. I don't just want to teach Chemistry; I want to teach them to be human beings who think for themselves. I want to continue motivating and influencing, just as many people influenced me to make the decisions I do. I still want to make changes in society collaborating with people and I know that the Chevening Scholarship can give me a great opportunity to find other leaders to work together with contributing to our community.