Teacher: Neeta Bisht
Meet the teacherLinks
Neeta Bisht
Neeta has taught secondary and senior secondary grades for over two decades. She is a Senior School Coordinator and Head of the Biology Department at The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet in India. Neeta has been a practitioner of experiential learning through outdoor activities and amidst Nature with an interdisciplinary approach. She has been involved in designing Creative Assessments in Biology, Nationally and Internationally. It is essential that today’s learners understand how their personal choices impact planetary well-being. She encapsulates her lessons with sustainable practices embedded in them, thus guiding students to create their own learning curves at the same time mindful of the impacts of their activities. This has been her educational and teaching philosophy.
Usefull links related to the Solution
Beat Plastic Polution Video
National Geographic: One For Change
www.hpsbegumpet.org.in
Overview
Neeta is Head of Biology at the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet in India. She believes that every subject, teacher and school has a role to play in educating students about co-existence, empathy, resilience and global consumption and their impacts. Neeta has started a movement in her school to bring about change by bringing nature into the school grounds and into the learner’s sphere of knowledge.
Theory of Change
Learners need to engage with, respect and enjoy nature to have an interest in protecting it. This project aims to build a whole school commitment to encouraging everyday interactions between the whole school community and nature. Every subject area is seen as having some responsibility for developing this familiarity; and these repeated interactions with nature are seen as important in transforming learning from an often stressful, repressive activity to one that is more student-centric and effective for everyone involved.
Approach and Actions
Neeta is working to change the philosophy of teaching in her school towards a more holistic educational model which encompasses extensive experiential learning, outdoor learning, and learning with nature as its cornerstones. The core values of co-existence, empathy, resilience and the idea of global consumption and its impact are addressed through adapting the school’s existing learning framework and curriculum.
Impact
To facilitate this learning Neeta has also developed the school grounds to include more green space including developing two nature trails and several lawn spaces which offer a bounty of nature in the urban setting. Staff are encouraged to use the green school grounds for learning opportunities whenever possible and science teachers have been specifically trained in how to use the school grounds for science activities. Art workshops, classes and theatre performances regularly take place in the green spaces; and staff and students are encouraged to use the school grounds for formal and informal gatherings. Feedback from the teaching staff is encouraged so that the effects of the green schoolyard can be understood. Learners are also encouraged to take part in school-based, regional and nationwide climate education and biodiversity conservation programmes.