AFTER two decades, Guardian Life Limited (GLL) is being hailed as a champion for excellence in teaching and learning at the tertiary level, following the 2024 UWI/GLL Premium Teaching Awards Ceremony that saw three educators being recognised for top ranking in student faculty evaluations at the Mona campus.

The event was held on Thursday at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona campus.

Since 2004, the GLL has been committed to the Premium Teaching Award, which highlights and awards excellent teachers who have received top ranking and provided proof of their intentionality, creativity and dedication to the teaching and learning process.

“Guardian Life’s support for the Premium Teaching Awards is deeply rooted in our belief that excellence in education is not just about knowledge, but also about the cultivation of potential and the development of critical thinkers,” stated Debby Livingstone, vice-president, corporate resources at GLL.

She continued: “This partnership with The UWI aligns perfectly with Guardian Life’s mission for all stakeholders to ‘live secure’, particularly through our pillars of leadership and academic development. We believe that by supporting the teaching community, we are helping to cultivate leaders who will innovate and excel in their respective fields.”

Three people came out on top, with Jevon Henry, assistant lecturer in the Department of Economics, UWI, Mona, taking the top award of the 2024 Premium Teaching Award, and the runners-up were Dr Collette Cunningham-Myrie from the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry and Dr Nekeisha Spencer from the Department of Economics.

In his response, Henry outlined the importance of this type of recognition for the teaching fraternity.

“For two giants of the Caribbean — Guardian Life and UWI — to come together to celebrate something as special as excellence in teaching, that is really remarkable,” he said.

“Thank you to GLL, UWI and especially to the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for providing us with tools in our toolkit so we can go out in our classrooms and be effective teachers in building the region and the social and economic structures of the Caribbean.”

The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is the organiser of the event and was instrumental in choosing the three-member judging panel which decided the winners.

Professor Chad Hoggan, professor of adult and lifelong education, North Carolina State University, was this year’s chief judge and guest speaker at the event.

In his main address, Hoggan expressed how impressed he was of the finalists and commended them individually by highlighting the strengths identified among the panellists from the portfolios of the finalists.

“There was a focus on how we help students to learn. The portfolios showcased the intentionality of using case studies, planning activities, and getting students to engage with the materials and not just tell them how to do it. The focus on the experiential approach to teaching was impressive. The finalists were also very impressive; so much so that all three judges chose different winners, not because they liked anyone more than the other,” stated Hoggan.

The Premium Teaching Award came into existence from a memorandum of understanding between GLL and The UWI, Mona in 2004, to co-sponsor a lecture series that evolved into an award.

The award ceremony marks the culmination of the award selection process, which included the review of digital teaching portfolios and sought to recognise the value that needs to be placed on the status of teaching throughout the university campuses across the Caribbean.