Educating, implementing and maintaining academic integrity: This teacher takes a holistic approach in guiding colleagues, students and parents
Henry Esomchi teaches Canadian and International Politics as part of Rosedale Global High School’s Transformative Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) with partner, The Regent College, located in Nigeria. As part of the Rosedale Global High School community of teachers, Henry has earned numerous teaching certificates through Rosedale’s Teacher Development Program in Business, Social Studies, and General Qualification, to support his continuous learning and development, and was appointed the Academic Integrity Officer at the partner school in 2022.
As part of our commitment to providing holistic solutions and quality assurance services for K-12 schools around the world, we contribute to implementing the fundamentals of academic integrity across all international partner schools within the Rosedale Global High School community. Academic Integrity Officers like Henry adopt the crucial responsibility of promoting and guiding best practice within their schools and working collaboratively to prevent, address and correct any challenges or questions from students and educators.
Henry was honoured to be appointed as the The Regent College’s Academic Integrity Officer, and has implemented procedures that promote best practice, such as weekly seminars with students designed to provide additional training on specific focus areas that support student need and growth—such as citations and referencing, research, collaboration, and other aspects of academic integrity. He also discusses the importance of trust, honesty and fairness in academics with parents during all orientation sessions, ensuring proper procedure is recognized and understood by all involved in students’ academic journeys.
Believing in the importance of a collaborative approach, Henry speaks with his colleagues and their students every Wednesday to provide opportunities to further educate, address and correct any challenges related to academic integrity in the school. It is also widely known that he has an open-door policy when it comes to any questions from students or teachers.
Henry is humbled by his students and how far they have progressed in terms of their understanding and implementation of proper procedure—from expectations in academic citations to properly attributing ideas discussed by peers when working on group projects. He proudly describes scenarios in which he overhears his students speaking about YouTube videos with each other and, even in these informal discussions, properly cite the specific videos from which their idea came.
“Rosedale is doing well in terms of supporting students and teachers with academic integrity,” Henry says. “Students always know what is expected of them because Rosedale makes academic integrity seamless, their model is so easy to understand.”
Prior to entering the field of education, Henry was a television anchor at African Independent Television, a privately owned television station in Nigeria. He loved learning about economics and politics through research and interviews, and covering important stories that impact the daily lives of local citizens. These elements of learning about others and the broader community, as well as a passion for teaching and learning were exciting elements in Henry’s role —however, he wanted more from his future. As someone his friends always looked to for knowledge, guidance and motivation, Henry decided to go to them for advice to discuss his current career and aspirations. After this conversation, it was clear—he wanted to pivot to a career in education.
“I knew that something was missing,” Henry says. “At The Regent College, we’re serving as role models and mentors for students in their career pathways, moral pathways and cultural pathways. It’s very fulfilling.”
A lifelong learner, Henry is furthering his education by pursuing his master’s degree in Education and International Development at the University of East Anglia and participating in professional development programs, sessions and workshops offered through Rosedale’s department of Teacher Development.
Through a comprehensive Teacher Development program and Transformative Approach to Learning, Rosedale empowers teachers to foster the individualized growth of students through asset-based learning, creating life-changing learning outcomes. Earning 95% on the subject-specific Advanced Qualification program and participating in professional development workshops, Henry has been able to further develop his teaching practice to support the next generation of learners. He exemplifies Rosedale’s values and is constantly reminded of the impact he has on his students; he regularly receives messages from his first cohort of OSSD students, now studying in Canada, thanking him for preparing them for their transitions into Canadian universities.
Student learning is fully supported by Rosedale’s award-winning digital learning platform and Transformative OSSD Curriculum, both promoting student independence and ownership, while reinforcing excellence from teachers facilitating its application. Henry is thankful for Rosedale’s custom Academic Skills Development Modules that are hosted on the digital learning platform. The modules are designed specifically to help teachers build conditions for student success with core-competency development in areas such as critical thinking, academic writing, and working with information; opportunities to effectively demonstrate learning; and clear connections to the real world.
“The OSSD program is very interesting, and its structure gives adequate room for teachers and students to develop all aspects of learning,” Henry says. “And Rosedale’s supporting documents, lesson plans and implementable strategies help boost the academic posture of students and the confidence of teachers.”
