A New and Significant Launch for World Heutagogy Day 26th September 2022
Introduction; From her home in rural Andhra Pradesh, Vijaya Bhanu Kote, whose work has featured as part of World Heutagogy Day since 2014, has set up “The Heutagogy Brainery” to promote and support Heutagogic (self-determined learning) practice across the educational spectrum from early years to post-compulsory education. To support the launch, we are featuring Vijaya’s own introduction, below, to her work and the “Brainery, and the outline of her new book, which pulls together her work up to date. The “Brainery is an important development, drawing on over twenty years of engagement as a parent and teacher encouraging learner agency and self-determination, whose work has implications for learners and practitioners worldwide and is now recognised across India and around the world; Nigel Ecclesfield – September 2022
Launch of Heutagogy Brainery World Heutagogy Day 2022; by Vijaya Bhanu Kote
Objectives of Heutagogy Brainery
- To create awareness about Heutagogy.
- To conduct awareness and self-realization courses for teachers, parents and students.
- To publish books on Heutagogy.
- To establish a research wing for Heutagogic research.
- Counselling parents, teachers and students
It had been a long journey from 2006 to 2022 with Heutagogy. Heutagogy has changed my life as well as my family’s outlook about life and education. My son was about 18 months of age when I started experimenting on him. I wanted his brought up to be unique, with no pressure, no stress. I started experimenting on little things like letting him see me and imitate. Letting him do things on his own. For example, applying crayon colours on the pictures after watching me do it for few days, putting his toys in a carton after playing. Tidying up his workspace after playing or drawing, letting him do things on own, however he likes them to do, like selecting his own picture in the book or selecting his own toy.
I read many books when he was in my womb. I used to talk to him placing my palm on my stomach. I read stories to him as well. May be, it was a compensative emotion to lessen my agony for the loss of my first two twin kids Glory and Gracy. He started doing things on his own after few months of imitation. He started growing up as a Heutagog. Some years later, he started school. He was self-determined in his choices and execution, but the schooling was quite different from his thoughts and expectations. My husband worked with the same institution where my son a pupil. Due to the frequent Asthma suffered by my child, we had the opportunity to make suggestions to his teachers. At our request, Buddy was not given any homework, nor put under any pressure to study as per the school norms or coerced to obtain grades in his work or exams. He was free. He practiced piano, played games, enjoyed being with his friends and family, learned new skills, read so many books, learned drawing and other skills., after his school hours. This gave him good insights and when he was in Grade III, we noticed a leadership spark and deft in writing in him. He collaborated with my school kids and established an organization named, “Impact” with the help of Green Climate Magazine team. He led many social awareness programs and, from then on, wrote stories and articles for magazines and painted many pictures.
His success increased from then on leading him to talk about the National and the International issues in seminars and conferences, becoming a published writer and a social activist. He became a small farmer after watching the suicides of farmers in India. He wanted to understand how our agriculture can be transformed to ensure that farmers can live with dignity and sufficient wealth. He conducted many experiments in farming. He received State Eco Friend Award when he was in Grade VI (10-11 years). His school correspondent was so happy for him that he allotted land on his farm for Buddy to conduct his experiments. Buddy did experiments on mono cropping and mixed cropping and with the results he went to Ahmedabad to present his experiments at National Children’s Science Congress when he was in Grade IX. He gained the National KVR Scientific Society Award at the same time. His work won laurels from many organisations. During Covid 19, he read continually, listened to podcasts, did a Junior MBA course to find his further education course. He is now pursuing his education in Business Administration and wants to be a Social Entrepreneur.
When anyone asks him “What Heutagogy is about, he will just smile and say, “Liberty.”
When Buddy (Vardhishna Vibhavas Rajith Elipe) was growing up, being a Heutagog, my husband was overwhelmed with his son’s happy, easy-going, stress-free attitude. He started practicing Heutagogy for his school kids too. His teaching career took a new turn, and he was happier than before. He worked in a corporate school where experimentation was not so much encouraged. He took the permission of the school’s Joint Secretary and the principal to implement Heutagogic mode of learning. He had a hectic schedule, owing to which he could document not much of his work but was very much happy being a Heutagogy Practitioner. He submitted his experiments on “Introspective Heutagogy” for the World Heutagogy Day 2020 to wikiquals. He presented his paper on “Introspective Heutagogy” to CCE Finland Global Symposium in April 2022, that won laurels from the chair, UNESCO.
I was diagnosed with Brain (pituitary)Tumour in 2021. My world toppled down as I was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare disease named “Cushing’s Disease” that was not identified earlier, though I suffered a great deal. The disease, along with its associated tumour existed in my body for at least 10 years without treatment. The rest was a story of search for a doctor who had proper skill in removing my tumour from an extremely critical area of my pituitary gland, my surgery, my walk towards recovery which is still going on.
On the day of my surgery, only thing that pricked me hard was, “What will be the fate of the Heutagogic way of learning I have developed for Indian context?” I asked my husband and son to start a Heutagogy Academy and propagate Heutagogy. I asked them to encourage teachers, parents, and students to learn through Heutagogy and even urged them to establish a “Research Wing” that could encourage teachers, parents, and students to experiment and document their Localized Heutagogy.
I survived the critical surgery but still on recovery mode with different health issues persisting and newly developing. My husband Bangarraju quit his job few months back and started working on the launch of “Heutagogy Academy.” I cannot be involved in the academy as I am working for the Government. So, both my husband and son got engaged with the works related to the academy. At last, on 26th September 2022, on the eve of World Heutagogy Day, we are launching “Heutagogy Brainery” at our place, may be the first of its kind in the world, as the founder of Heutagogy, Stewart Hase said. (There are so many agencies and academies in India that the auditors asked us for any other synonym for academy, so we gave the name Brainery)
We designed both awareness and self-realization courses for teachers, parents and students. We are planning to propagate Heutagogy around the world with these 5 principles;
- To create awareness about Heutagogy.
- To conduct awareness and self-realization courses for teachers, parents and students.
- To publish books on Heutagogy.
- To establish a research wing for Heutagogic research.
- Counselling parents, teachers and students
Thanks, is a very small word but we would love to thank Stewart Hase ji, Fred Garnett ji and Nigel Ecclesfield ji for their constant support. Thank you so much for helping with editing and modelling my module that is being released on the World Heutagogy Day 2022. I would rather say, it is the soul talk of four souls. Thanks for everything.
Vijaya Bhanu Kote 26th September 2022
More about World Heutagogy Day 2022 on The Heutagogic Archives
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