New National Teaching Fellow, Dr Ifedapo Francis Awolowo, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, reflects on how institutional trust transformed his teaching and leadership. 

The question that changed everything 

There is a question that has stayed with me throughout my career: what becomes possible when someone believes in you before you’ve learnt to believe in yourself? 

As I reflect on receiving a National Teaching Fellowship, I realise this question lies at the heart of my journey, not only as a teacher, but as a student, mentor and educational leader. 

While the Fellowship recognises individual achievement, teaching excellence is never the work of one person. Behind every successful educator are students who inspire them, colleagues who challenge them, and institutions that create the conditions for innovation to flourish. 

For me, that institution has been Sheffield Hallam University. 

My own educational journey was far from straightforward. As a child, I struggled academically and was often near the bottom of my class. One teacher told me I would never amount to much because I was a slow learner. Those words could easily have become my identity. Instead, they became the reason I teach the way I do today. 

I know what it feels like to have your potential overlooked. Equally, I know the life-changing difference it makes when someone chooses to see possibility where others see limitation. That experience continues to shape everything I do as an educator. 

Teaching is about belonging before achievement 

Over the years, my teaching has been shaped by the African philosophies of Ubuntu and Omoluabi. Ubuntu reminds us that “I am because we are” – our humanity is rooted in our relationships with others. Omoluabi calls us to lead with integrity, compassion and respect. Together, they have taught me that education is fundamentally relational. 

Students rarely remember every lecture they attend, but they remember how they were treated. They remember whether they felt they belonged and whether someone genuinely believed they could succeed. 

When I joined Sheffield Hallam University, I wanted every student to experience that sense of belonging. 

One of my earliest opportunities came through redesigning a postgraduate forensic accounting module. Although most students were international, the curriculum relied almost entirely on UK-based case studies. Working alongside supportive colleagues, I introduced global examples, active learning and more culturally responsive approaches to teaching. 

The improvement in pass rates was significant, but the numbers were never the most meaningful outcome. Students told me they felt recognised for the first time. They contributed more confidently, challenged ideas and began to see themselves as capable professionals rather than passive learners. 

Those conversations reinforced something I continue to believe: when students feel they belong, they become more willing to believe in their own potential. 

When institutions trust ideas 

The same principle applies to educators. Innovation rarely happens where people are afraid to fail. It flourishes when institutions trust their staff to think differently. 

Looking back, I realise that many of the opportunities I have been fortunate to pursue were possible because Sheffield Hallam created an environment where ideas were encouraged rather than constrained. Senior leaders listened. They challenged my thinking, but they also created space to explore ambitious solutions. Educational equity was never viewed as someone else’s responsibility; it became a shared institutional commitment. 

Having senior leaders who believe in your work is one of the greatest gifts an educator can receive. Their trust gives you permission to think beyond your own classroom and imagine what could be achieved across an institution and beyond. 

It also gave me the confidence to ask bigger questions. Why are so many talented Black students missing from doctoral education? How can mentoring become more than informal advice and instead become a structured pathway into research careers? 

From one idea to a national movement 

Those questions led to the creation of the Accomplished Study Programme in Research Excellence (ASPIRE).  

What began as one idea has grown into a nationally recognised mentoring programme that has supported dozens of Black scholars into doctoral education while influencing institutional policy, supervision and inclusive practice across higher education. 

ASPIRE has transformed students’ lives, but it has transformed mine as well. It taught me that lasting educational change is rarely achieved by individuals working alone. It happens when students, professional services colleagues, academic staff, senior leaders and external partners unite around a shared purpose. 

It also reshaped my understanding of leadership. Leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about creating the conditions in which other people can flourish. That philosophy continues to shape my work, from writing Breaking Barriers to Doctoral Education: The ASPIRE Model for Mentoring and Racial Equity to delivering anti-racist workshops across the sector and hosting ASPIRE Hour, a weekly radio programme that opens conversations about doctoral education to wider audiences. Each initiative began with the same belief: education changes lives when it creates possibility. 

The lesson I’ll carry forward 

Receiving a National Teaching Fellowship has given me the opportunity to pause and reflect. Of course, I feel incredibly honoured. But more than anything, I feel grateful. Grateful to the students who trusted me with their stories. Grateful to colleagues who challenged and inspired me. Grateful to senior leaders whose belief in my work gave me the confidence to pursue ideas that once felt impossible. And grateful to Sheffield Hallam University for creating an environment where innovation was not simply welcomed; it was nurtured. 

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson this journey has taught me. We often talk about the importance of believing in our students, and rightly so. But educators need belief too. When institutions invest in their people, trust their ideas and create the conditions for them to flourish, those educators go on to transform countless other lives. 

A question for all of us 

Receiving a National Teaching Fellowship does not feel like the end of my journey. Instead, it reminds me of our shared responsibility to build universities where every student can belong, every colleague can thrive, and every good idea has the opportunity to grow into something far greater than the person who first imagined it. 

What has your institution done to help you become the educator you are today, and how are you creating those same opportunities for others? 

Dr Ifedapo Francis Awolowo is a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and author of Breaking Barriers to Doctoral Education: The ASPIRE Model for Mentoring and Racial Equity. His work focuses on teaching excellence, mentoring and creating more equitable pathways into higher education.