Little hearts and a feisty
Teacher
Self determined learning
is the phrase Dr.Stewart Hase uses to define heutagogy. He is the founder of
‘heutagogy’. The students are the self teachers and the class room teacher is
only a facilitator and guide in this process of learning. September 26th is celebrated as “World’s Heutogogy
Day”. Chris Kenyon and Dr. Stewart Hase
found out this method as they were working on another project of
learning . The objective of this method of learning is that it will make a
student a complete human. Once this method of learning is implemented in the
elementary level the pupil will start his process of life long journey of learning.
The method of learning is determined in the child’s life. He will learn everything in his life with this
method. Dr. Stewart Hase and Chris Kenyon, brought out this concept in
2000. Further developing it Dr. Stewart
Hase has done much more work and now this method stands workable and had
yielded good results.
Now we will talk about a
self determined teacher Ms Vijayabhanu Kote who is working in a government
school in Payakaraopeta , who has adopted this method in her class. As an
academician and also an individual with social responsibility she contributes
different articles to the Government journals Yojana, and also writes Biology lessons
for Tenth class students in Eenadu and English lessons to KASTURI magazine (by
the Govt of AP). Besides this she is also a creative writer and poet in English
and Telugu. She wrote stories in Telugu which are published in reputed
magazines like Prasthaanam and Swathi weekly.
First she experimented with heutagogy with the
fifth class children and now she is doing it confidently with first class
students too.
Little brains are all
different in their own way. There is also emotion involved in learning.
Learning is both subjective and objective. Learning is defined as the change
that is brought out in a mind with some experience. So heutagogy is such a
method which makes the child to use his brain and interact. This method also
helps the child to evaluate his own learning.
She has designed modules
of Heutagogy. As a teacher in the
Government school it is really an adventurous decision for Ms.Bhanu Kote , but
as she is a self determined teacher , she has successfully implemented in her
class to students of fifth class. In a small town Payakaraopeta , the students
are from very poor and disturbed families. To put them all to such learning
process is a herculean task. And this teacher had taken the total
responsibility on her shoulders and done it. Her colleagues and the education
board all are surprised for the results she brought out. All the process of
learning of her students’ day to day learning is recorded by the students
themselves in their own words and pictures. This dedicated teacher with the
financial help of her friends published the book with the title “Lethaakaasalu”
which means Tender Skies(each kid a sky on their own)
As she succeeded in her
effort with her first experiment, all the teachers of other schools started
inquiring about this concept. She taught them and also started writing on this
subject to the magazine “Naveena Vidya”. She gives her self assessment as a
successful person implementing this method.
A dedicated and devoted teacher Ms Vijayabhanu
Kote not only takes teaching as her profession or livelihood, but it as the
mission of her life. With the help of her friends , Chairman Zillaparishad ,
her colleagues and Head Master and mentor Mr. Devineni Madhusudhana Rao , the
man who adopted her school , she does a lot to the development of the school.
Wherever she goes there’s a lot of progress in that school by all means. She
takes up the responsibility of constructing boundary walls, and pooling up
computers, furniture, and sports material and a lot more to the school in which
she works. She had been working in the MPPSPH WADA school and now she is working
in the MPUP KH WADA schools in Payakaraopeta. She says that this method of
learning makes a student to prosper throughout his lifelong learning process
and they will turn into a self fulfilled individual. They become social
conscious and realize their responsibility as good citizens. Her students
conduct many awareness and social programs too. Her achievements won her great
applause that she was invited to present a paper on her experiments in
heutagogy to Finland. She successfully presented her paper “Heutogogy for
primary school children and triangle concept” in the Global symposium conducted
by council for creative education, Finland , in Tampere University in November
2017. More than sixty countries attended this symposium from all over the world.
The same paper was simultaneously selected for TECH Global symposium and she
presented her paper in NOVOTEL, Vizag in December 2017. Presently Ms Vijayabhanu is working with Dr.
Stewart Hase and his team in preparing the hand book for teachers on Heutagogy.
She says it’s a grand privilege to work with the founder of ‘gogy’.
All her
dreams are about the children and their progress. She not only dreams but makes
them true and with her nearly almost two decades of service outstands as a
devoted teacher and a loving human being the whole town cherishes her being
with them and with pride they own her. How nice it would be if at least few of
our teachers work with such dedication and then our schools would be
wonderlands of learning.
………………………………………………………………….jagaddhatri
,
Bilingual writer, translator, critic and columnist . dhaathri.dhaathri9@gmail.com