An Educationist and her Exceptional Contribution in Pedagogical Innovation

Women are like the sky. Limitless and endless. Their sacrifice, contributions are infinite. They are indestructible and never let the star inside them to dim even in the toughest war. This month. Bongjournal / qtvlive is celebrating International women's day by   unveiling inspiring stories of those remarkable women

Educator REETIKA BHANDARI shares her journey of success with Sreeja Ghosh

Plenty of women opt to study STEM. But research shows only a moderate numbers of women carry their career in Science and Technology, particularly in India. REETIKA BHANDARI not only successfully carry forward her career in science but also successfully simplify the subject like chemistry through creative form which was accepted worldwide.

HOD CHEMISTRY GHPS NEW DELHI and a resource person with CBSE COE. Recipient of Best Education Outreach 2021 Asia Pacific Excellence Award, Mentor of the year award and Guru Vashisth utkrust samman with 23 years of experience in the field of education with diverse experience and strong track record fostering child centred curriculum and student creativity. REETIKA BHANDARI trained almost 5000 teachers on various tools and strategies and got a very positive response. She is a raconteur and podcast creator who believes in integrative, cross culture with inquisitive approach by conducting workshops, webinars and teacher trainings on topics like experiential learning, Art Integration, Dramatics in teaching, Chemistry teaching strategies and many more.  She also pen down with reputed publications for science books

___________________________________________________________

When I came to Delhi it was not easy finding job as most of the schools wanted experienced teachers for teaching higher classes and I was too young for that. The working atmosphere in Delhi schools was different from Dehradun which was a very small town at that time and Delhi schools preferred people from Delhi university.

I was new to place and after  birth of my son it was more difficult to pursue job as I had a lot of family responsibilities, but I did not give up. I had an opportunity to serve in one of the best schools and I proved that hard work and dedication can help you in achieving your goals by keeping a balance with family life. It was a struggling time for me and my husband as we were on Rental house, small kid and professional growth without  support of family members. I tried to give my best to my students and son and I hope I achieved it.

Academic life before pursuing diploma in human rights.

I did my post graduation in organic chemistry in year 1996 and BEd in year 1998. After I started with my job  I kept attending teacher trainings to improve my skills. I got certified by HELGA RODD FOUNDATION UK and was selected as a mentor.

Inspite of being a science student why did you opt for HUMAN RIGHTS .How did it complement my career?

On 10 December 2018 I attended   70 th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights at India International centre. It was really wonderful hearing ambassadors from different countries talking about Human rights and I realized that so many people in this world are deprived of basic rights specially women. I really wanted to understand the subject to make myself and my students aware so that we can bring a change.

And now when NEP says no silos between sciences and humanities , I think I would be an asset to my organization.

In future I  like to get associated with some NGO so that I can work in this field for betterment of society.

Pedagogical innovations in chemistry

I always try to simplify my subject so that my students enjoy them. Students love stories and hands on activities which they can easily correlate with the real life scenarios. I try teaching through dramatics and storytelling. Songs and poetry children enjoy in learning science.

I have my podcast on Spotify and other platform called CHEMISTRY STORIES  where I keep sending difficult topics as stories and this has a wonderful response not only in India but I have reached so many countries across the globe.

Contribution to society in Covid 19

During COVID 19 the most challenging part for teachers was technology and teaching strategies. I too was not tech savvy and knew a very little but I did not give up. I joined many online sessions and took help of my son  to become better at tech part. I did a lot of certifications.

Meanwhile I arranged lot of online sessions for teachers who needed help on topics like art integration, stress management ,experiential learning, story telling and dramatics as with advent of NEP2020 and CBSC circulars teachers required a lot of guidance in all these teaching strategies. I trained almost 5000 teachers on various tools and strategies and got a very positive response

Women's Day Message To QTV LIVE