Hello, readers of The Shield! Today, we are honored to interview Mr. Nditanchou, our wonderful Cameroonian physics teacher at Richwoods. This is Mr. Nditanchou’s second year at Richwoods, and he teaches all the physics classes, including AP and IB. He is one of several Peoria Public Schools employees that are part of the J-1 Visa program, a visa that allows international candidates to participate in work-based and study-based exchange programs in the US, promoting cultural and educational exchange!
What were the reasons you decided to pursue teaching as a career? Was it an instinctive decision, or did you consider other jobs before teaching?
“When I was in middle and high school, I was performing well in my classes and some of my classmates were very interested in what I said when I was leading a study group to complete our assignments. Some of them said that they sometimes understood the concepts better when I explained them than when the teacher did.
From there, I started nursing beliefs that if I became a teacher, most of my students would understand me and perform better. However, I admired engineering and medicine jobs more than teaching, but by the moment I completed high school, I could only afford the teaching training fees which were the cheapest among them all.”
What other jobs have you held, school or otherwise, before working as a teacher here, after graduating from college?
“I was recruited by the Cameroon government through a competitive entrance examination just 2 months after completing my high school. I had a teaching degree after 3 years and I was posted immediately to a government high school where I taught for 13 years before traveling over to the USA; Hence, I have no other job experience as there has been no gap in my transition from student to student-teacher to certified teacher.”
How different is high school in Cameroon compared to the U.S, and what are the best changes in your opinion? What do you miss from Cameroon’s schools?
“There are a lot of changes! To list a few:
The smaller number of students per class, having more technology in class and lessons and available resources for students in all aspects, having different races in the same classroom, organization of time schedule for classes, a personalized classroom for teachers, and many more.
However, though the number of students in Cameroon classrooms is many times greater than those in the USA, it’s easier to control the student behavior and the students work better on any given tasks.
The way I see teaching and learning and my opinions on it have greatly changed, and my students will enjoy me more when I return to Cameroon at the end of my program.”
How long have you been in the U.S. for, and what other countries have you visited?
“I have been in the USA for about 18 months, and I have been to Nigeria and Rwanda in Africa.”
What is your favorite thing about America?
“My favorite thing about America is the organization of the community and availability of resources, and the security that every single child is given the opportunity to excel, and above all, the fair rule of the law.”
What do you like most about physics as a subject?
“I like physics because its principles are real and are proven right in class during lessons. It’s a subject that really demonstrates Bloom’s taxonomy at all times.”
What is your favorite aspect of being a teacher?
“My favorite moments as a teacher are when I feel my students are understanding the information and excelling. Adding on to that, I feel happy when former students write to me about how the skills from my classroom are helping in their life after high school.”
Where did you go to high school and college, what degrees did you get from said schools, and what were they like?
“I went to high school at Cameroon college of arts, science and technology, where I got my high school diploma in 5 science subjects.
Then I moved to the University of Bamenda in Cameroon where I obtained my teaching degree as a physics teacher.
Later, I got interested in accounting where I enrolled in the university of Douala in Cameroon where I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. Then, I enrolled in AIU here in the USA where I obtained my Ph.D., also in accounting.
Currently, for the love of IB, I have enrolled with the Bethel university of Minnesota to obtain IB education certification. So, I have two parallel degree lines in different countries.”
What is your best piece of advice for high school and college?
“Choose a career pathway while you are in high school and work toward it.”
What are your hobbies outside of school?
“I like soccer, traveling and movies at home.”
If you could visit any place in the world for one week, where would you go?
“I would love to visit Dubai, I have heard a lot about it, and I plan to travel there one day.”
What is your favorite thing about working with kids?
“My favorite thing about working with kids is when I feel like they listen and follow the instructions of the lesson, ask questions, discuss the concepts among themselves, and do the thinking themselves as well.”
What has been the best moment so far for you this school year?
“My best moment was when I was invited by PSD150 to share how I managed to maintain a good classroom culture, with new colleagues who needed some assistance to manage their classroom.”
What do you look forward to most this school year?
“I look forward to seeing an improvement in the performance of my students in all my classes compared to last year.”
We greatly appreciate Mr. Nditanchou for putting so much time and thought into this interview! Many students at Richwoods look forward to having him as their physics teacher, for good reason!
