Welcome to the Educationalist, but who is the Educationalist?

Who am I?

Hi, I am Terrence, and known as ‘The Educationalist’. I want to welcome you to this blog space where you will find information and ideas that can help with child learning and development through the perspective of an Educationalist.

My experience?

I am a teacher, currently applying my trade in Adelaide, South Australia. I have taught in many different settings, including small country and city schools, both low and high socio-economic schools, from prep through to high school, and even at juvenile detentions.

My roles have also varied, starting my career as an all-ages relief teacher, then moving into general primary classes, STEM innovation, English as a second language, and teaching children of special needs, and severe trauma. 

Along with all this, I have developed and run an after-hours education business where I work with children and teach them ‘how to learn’ called Train My Brain. Which has played a large role in developing the approached you will see here on The Educationalist.

You may be asking, what do you mean ‘how to learn’? It’s simple! Ever learnt something easily? Like for example, how to add or how to kick a ball? Then struggle to learn another skill? Perhaps spelling or catching a ball?

Is it a coincidence? Perhaps natural ability? Or is it merely that the child has not been placed in the right environment to learn that specific skill? Or are they not using the correct mental technique to learn?

I come from the perspective that when the correct training is provided, the brain can learn almost anything.  For example, how are you successful at spelling one difficult word and not another? What mental technique do you use on the correct word, compared to the incorrect? Do you sound out the letters? Visualise? Perhaps both visualise and sound out?

We all have our learning strengths, and learning to learn using these strengths will help our brain kick into gear and be successful at learning the new skill.

My history and how I obtained this knowledge?

I grew up in a small country town with a population of about 3000 people. My parents were (and still are) hard-working people that lived off the land, supplying the country with fruit produce and grapes for wine.  My younger brother and I were raised as two typical children in a middle-class family that lived off the land. We went to school, played sport and worked on the block from the moment we started walking.

My schooling was typical of a country school, having fewer resources than a city school, a broad demographic of students, and without disrespect to my great teachers, not the most skilled of teachers. What I mean by that, is due to the difficulties of not having a wide variety of teachers with specific skills, teachers would have to teach subjects they weren’t necessarily trained in or confident teaching.  I distinctly remember my math teacher telling my 10th-grade class that he’s not the greatest at the English subject; however, we’re stuck with him teaching English for the year.  

I learnt to write my first ever essay in year 11. Eeek! And well, my parents weren’t the most literate, so help and advice wasn’t exactly top-shelf. However, in truth, I turned out just fine. I think?

Reading on, you’ll find some keys points that will explain how I became me, an open-minded, confident, innovative, problem-solver, with a big heart and a brain for personal-development. 

I grew up a shy, socially-awkward, anxious child. Mainly due to my obesity, short height and hunched-back. Having a Greek background, you could hardly call me an Adonis. In fact, I’m a prime example of the complete opposite. I had such low self-esteem. I used to hate meeting people, always thinking that they had negative thoughts towards me due to my appearance. Why waste their time talking to me when they could speak to someone else? I would always deal with this anxiety by burying my feelings. When bullied, I’d pretend not to feel, not to care. I would even tease myself to help lighten the load by ‘getting in’ before the bullies. 

I didn’t want to live like this forever; I had to turn my life around.  So on my first day of year 12, I began a new diet and added exercise to my day.   
By the end of the year, I had lost 26kg.  My first and quite possibly still, my greatest achievement!

Not too long after, and still, at the old age of 17, it was time for me to leave the small country town and move 220km away to the big city of Adelaide to start University.  A city where I only knew a few people. 
Remember that anxious, socially awkward kid that had lost weight? He now had to learn to live on his own and become independent, discover the University system, and the most challenging, meet new people and make friends.

Wow, what a challenging year it was! I remember calling my parents many times, saying that I want to quit Uni and move back home. To their credit, they made me stay, see out the year and to continue until I finish University.  I then ended up loving the city, meeting people and began to open my mind to a new confidence and life perspective.

I became two people, the friendly, confident, funny guy, and the shy, anxious teen that I once was.  In some moments, I was type A, others type B. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why, nor could I control it. 

To find out more about how my own and other human brains worked, I went on to study neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).  
NLP was a life changer! My mind opened! I learnt about myself, and more importantly, I learnt how to edit myself.  I learnt how to use my senses to learn new skills, re-program my brain to work in the way I want it to work.  And no, I’m not a robot! Old me is still here, just in smaller doses!  

Just a few things I have learnt from my journey!

• My anxieties have taught me compassion and empathy!
• Moving out on my own taught me independence!
• Loneliness taught me to be sociable and how to meet people!
• NLP has taught me how to learn! How to understand me and others!
• Throughout my growth, I have learnt to be strong, to embrace the bad times and motivate me on to bigger and better things!
  
  

What better way to apply this knowledge than to the children I teach.  I see so many children with low self-esteem, whether it be due to their physical or mental capabilities.

Well, that all stops now!

I plan to blog my knowledge and experiences for all to follow.  Whether you are a parent, teacher or looking for personal improvement, I pray that this site will be able to provide you with a helping hand.

My aim is to promote my knowledge to the world through this Educationalist blog, so that the world of education can be further improved. If I can help positively change the life of at least one person as the Educationalist, then I know I’ve made a small difference. Preferably, this Educationalist wishes to positively change the world.

Happy reading and happy learning,

Much love,

Terrence Kostantakis