Author: David Park ('24)
Photographer: Michael Hartono ('24)
Photo Courtesy of Maelgwyn Hallatu | Mrs. Hiwale teaching AP Biology
In BAIS, teachers come from various countries, and they have different teaching experiences and teaching philosophies. In this article, Mrs. Deepti Hiwale, who is the secondary science and math teacher, shares her teaching experiences in BAIS and the experiences she has had in these past few years.
Mrs. Hiwale is from India and has taught in India, Australia, and Indonesia. She had earned her bachelor degree of teaching mathematics and science in India.
“Education in the past had been teacher-centered where students were simply required to take notes on the teacher's lecture and their lesson plans. However, nowadays, student-centered teaching is valued, where the teacher checks in with individual students and helps them understand the concept as the teacher moves on,” Mrs. Hiwale said.
Mrs. Hiwale’s main teaching philosophy is that education should be based on students. Furthermore, she emphasized that “teaching, in fact, is really about students. The goal of teaching is to educate students and help them to learn content with support from teachers.” She believes that “students should be able to have choices and let their curiosity direct their learning, and students need the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment.” Mrs. Hiwale wants students to feel safe when asking questions, or when they make mistakes because she wants students to grow from them. She mentioned that learning should involve diverse assessment techniques, like activities and discussions where students are free to share their ideas under no pressure.
Photo Courtesy of Deepti Hiwale | Mrs. Hiwale’s at the Newcastle train station going from Sydney to Moree, 1st teaching job at Moree Secondary College
However, due to online learning, she had to address some difficulties in her teaching experience. She said, “As I was teaching offline school back in Australia, where there were only a limited number of regulations of COVID, it was hard experience for me to change to full online learning in Indonesia. I had a struggle adapting to technologies such as Google Meet and Schoology. Online learning was very new to me, and it limited various kinds of learning opportunities and techniques I was planning to use during teaching.” This struggle is shared among many teachers as they transition from offline to online teaching, and difficulties emerged from the limited options they have for teaching.
Regardless of those hardships, her value in teaching does not change.
“I value teaching. The sense of duty teaching brings is indescribable. As I teach, I am able to see how students are growing and obtaining knowledge throughout the course. It is a delight for me to observe those changes in my students. Wondering about students being effectively used in a society later on gives me pride in my heart on what I am doing currently,” said Mrs. Hiwale.
Lastly, she commented on students who want to be teachers and said “I really do think that being a teacher is not easy. It requires a lot of dedication and patience. However, those hardships do not drag behind the students from being teachers. Being a teacher gives a lot of sense of duty and responsibility. Personally, I get excited as I teach and see how students grow. I encourage students who are interested in giving knowledge to others to be a teacher. It is not an easy road but there is definitely excitement being a teacher.”
Mrs.Hiwale has extensive teaching experience in different countries and has a philosophy on how to teach as she wants students to learn in a safe environment. Even though online teaching was hard for Mrs. Hiwale, she still finds teaching very rewarding.
Photo Courtesy of Deepti Hiwale | The wedding at St. Francis Anglican Church, Medowie