IE093 Gahmya Drummond-Bey: Evolved Teaching: Teaching People to Find Their Mission (TED Talks Resident)

Our guest for this week is Gahmya Drummond-Bey, a global Instructional designer, education hacker, writer, and founder & CEO of ‘Evolved Teacher’. 

About Gahmya

Gahmya believes that learning should be a uniquely amazing experience, designed to inspire people to be, do and have more.

She has spent 11 years traveling around the world teaching while also learning from some of the top educational systems around the world. Gahmya has redesigned learning programs and trained educators in over 20 countries, reaching the status of “celebrity teacher” in South Korea.

In 2015, she founded ‘Evolved Teacher’ with a goal of empowering global communities to build an equitable educational system and also to create a digital platform that would provide primary students all over the world with equal access to quality education. 

Her approach is learner-centered, meaning those who are learning are at the core of the process. The role of the teachers is not only to guide but also to learn from the learners and further evolve their approach and educational philosophies. 

Gahmya has also just recently launched ‘KidYOUniversity’ which is a personal growth platform for kids. It features animated courses and challenges that nurture the genius and loving spirit within each child.

Connect with Gahmya:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gahmya
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedteacher/?hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gahmya-drummond-bey-a1a46b88/
• Website: https://www.evolvedteacher.com/

Gahmya’s Story of Inspired Evolution

Even though Gahmya has had major success working in the field of education, her own educational background is in chemistry, health care, and communications. She was drawn to education as she realized that it’s usually presented to us with the hope of achieving future value and success.

“I had one of those moments that I think a lot of people have now… where you feel like you’re preparing for future value. You feel like you’re preparing for future success and I wanted to feel a value at that moment. I wanted to be useful and helpful at that moment.” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

Gahmya went on to pursue a career path that would help her contribute to society in the present. She subsequently decided to join the Peace Corps and went to a country where she could help, teach and also learn an uncommon foreign language. She was assigned to go to Turkmenistan.

“I felt a value every second. I could see people grow... Seeing someone who can’t communicate with you come back to you the next day and they’re expressing greetings and they can express themselves - it is powerful!” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

Her experiences from Turkmenistan inspired her to go to as many countries as she could. She wanted to learn directly from children and people of different cultures about their educational desires and needs so that she could guide them and help them improve further. 

In This Episode We Canvas:

• Following Your Curiosity

We’ve often talked about the importance of following our passions. It’s been absolutely proven time and time again that this approach can be immensely valuable for personal growth. However, Gahmya’s experience is that not everyone has a clear idea about what their greatest passion in life actually is. As an alternative, she proposes following your curiosity because it will allow you to contribute and add value while searching for answers to deeper and bigger questions.

“We’ve been taught so often to follow our passions… Many of us do, whatever that means… As an educator, especially someone who works with teams a lot, I find that a bit problematic. So I don’t say ‘Find your purpose!’ I say ‘Find your curiosity and follow it!’” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

• The Importance of Asking Questions

As we try to solve and overcome life’s challenges we tend to overfocus on discovering the answers. But Gahmya points out that having the ability to ask the right questions is vastly more important in the long run. Focusing on finding the answer creates a shift in focusing on finding closure. But in life and learning we know that’s impossible. Focusing on the questions is a technique that will assure we are on the path of life-long learning and personal growth.

“There’s such a big focus on finding the answer. But it’s not about having the answers it’s about having the questions. Questions take you everywhere you need to go.” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

• Growing by Focusing on How You Can Be of Service

Aside from following our passions and curiosities, we ought to be aware of finding ways of how we can be of service. Gahmya points out that aside from resonating with the desire to add value in the present, discovering ways in which you can serve can also propel you out of your comfort zone and test your limit.

“I really feel like every issue in the world can be solved by each and every one of us. And if we focus more on what problem we can solve, how we can be of service, then we go beyond our boxes!” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

• Putting Emphasis on the Problems You Want to Solve

In this section, we discuss one of the biggest cliches still commonly asked children everywhere - “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Gahmya sees that the issue lies within the question itself. She believes that greater value comes from the asking “What problem do you want to solve?” By turning the focus to the problems, we’re encouraging children to both take action and we’re protecting them from the trap of thinking in patterns and stereotypes.

“The question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is crippling to everyone... Serving or solving a problem allows you to have immediate value right now.” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

• Evolved Teaching

In this section, Gahmya provides us with deep insights into her own educational philosophy. She sees education as a two-way street and lots of inspiring views can be extrapolated from her approach. 

“Every exchange is a teaching moment… You are my teacher as well. I’m learning from you. What you show me, what you say to me, what you ask… I’m learning and you’re learning from me! - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

Gahmya’s Message of Inspired Evolution

As Gahmya points out in the conversation herself, our philosophies are very much aligned and I was so blessed to have this inspiring conversation. I find her approach to be incredibly valuable for future generations of both teachers and learners. It’s incredibly intuitive and I believe it has something to do with the fact it embodies the natural mechanisms of how we learn and evolve as humans.

“For me, being an evolved teacher is not just about being an educator it’s about being a human being. It’s about us all learning and growing and evolving as a planet!” - Gahmya Drummond-Bey

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