NIVEDH 101

Before we get into what I think and what I do, you should probably know a little bit about who I am. 

I'm Nivedh Jayanth. I've lived in Bangalore/Bengaluru, India for the past 35 years of my life and have now decided to move across the world to West Lafayette and pursue my PhD in Science Education at Purdue. This was not the result of premature mid-life crisis or a sudden aneuryism, but the next logical step (or so I tell myself) in my journey.

I have a Bachelors degree in Chemistry, Environmental Science and Zoology from St. Joseph's College (now St. Joseph's University), India, a Masters degree in Chemistry from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India and a Bachelors degree in Education from Bangalore City University, India. I also picked up a DipLCM, a Diploma in Classical Singing from the London College of Music. 

Over the last little-more-than-a-decade, I've done a bunch of incredibly fun, cool and interesting things! I got into teaching High School Chemistry at Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru, straight after my Masters and taught for a year. I then worked at a research lab characterising graphene-polyaniline nanocomposites using Atomic Force Microscopy for a year; it was a great experience, but I found teaching was where my heart and soul were glad. 

So back I went to teaching at the same school and stuck with it for the next 10 years. I've taught several things over the years. Here's a brief list: 

• Chemistry for grades 8-12 
• an expirential science course through gardening for grade 5
• Thinking Skills for grades 9-10
•  and Global Perspectives and Research for grades 11-12. 
• Sexual health and wellness grades 9-12

Alongside my teaching responsibilities, I've been a Class Teacher with mentorship and pastoral care duties for about 9 years as well. I've guided students from grade 9-12, helping them work through their challenges and celebrating their triumphs through their teenage years. I've also enjoyed (yes, actually) working in leadership and administrative roles as the Head of Department for the critical thinking courses for a good 3 years. I've got up to a lot more at my job, but this should be enough to start with!

That's my Peter Parker side of life.

The rest of the time, I'm spiderman! 

Well, not quite, but the next best thing I think - I'm also a singer, been singing on stage since I've been about 5, maybe even younger. I trained as a singer formally in my early 20s, and fell in love with singing and performing on stage. The clip below is from a recording a friend took on 26th July, 2024 at a concert held at Mallya Aditi International School. 

 I've sung in several amazing choirs - the MMT choir, the Bangalore Chamber Singers and most recently, The Bangalore Men. Along the way, I've sung with a few bands as well - One Girl Shy, Retrograde and No Panic All Disco. I spent a brief 2 year stint as a Voice instructor at the Bangalore School of Music. I've had some incredible opportunities in this journey - singing for a Netflix show, performing alongside the Symphony Orchestra of India and other virtuoso international musicians, touring the country and simply having the best time of my life!

So why would I give all this up and come back to college for a PhD?

My esteemed vocal mentors - Jonas Olsson and Maria Forsstrom - have always said that as a singer we are simultaneously three things - the instrument, the performer of the instrument and the instrument builder. I have always felt the same as a teacher as well - I teach, I learn, but simultaneously I've also been standing apart watching how this entire process transacts and transpires. I have always had questions about why we do certain things, how effective our methods are and how the entire teaching-learning process takes place. A little casual reading of the literature was how I started digging deeper. I've also had the opportunity to present at several conferences and workshops, locally and internationally, where I've been able to interact with other teachers and education researchers and share thoughts, perspectives, experiences and praxis. 

One of my most recent experiences was presenting a paper at a conference alongside my colleague, Mary Rita Paul on the design of interdisciplinary learning projects. Our publication in the conference proceedings is linked below:

https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2023.72

I've been doing much more of these in the past years, slowly uncovering the desire to delve deeper into the process of education. This has now brought me here, on the threshold of new discoveries about myself and this wonderful world of science education that I dove into headfirst many years ago and have been equally intrigued, excited and satisfied by all these years.

I'll be using this blog to reflect on this whole process of doing a PhD in Science Education as well as my thoughts and perspectives on Science Education. My experience and expertise lies Secondary Chemistry Education in India and teaching Critical Thinking Skills, so expect a lot of rumination on these. Follow along and feel free to comment! I always love a good discussion!