Dr Marta Hawkins | University for Children | Learning and Personal Growth

created for young people and parents who want more than education: who want to experience learning in a different, more creative, holistic way, where the mind, the body, and the consciousness work together and get inspired by interdisciplinary curriculum, nature and art.

ABOUT UNIVERSITY FOR CHILDREN

After teaching at UK universities for more than two decades, I have realised that students who come to study on the tertiary level carry out their previous learning and thinking habits from primary and secondary school.

The way students experience their early education affects their future lives and professional performance. When they finish school, grow up, and start their first job, it turns out they mainly rely on their mind and cognitive skills. This is how education and professionalism has worked for thousands of centuries in the Western world.

Traditional styles of teaching emphasise the use of the mind and the brain at the expense of the body, creativity, emotional expression and spirituality. Academic subjects are theoretically driven and taught in silos of specific disciplines, such as English, Maths, Geography, Biology, Arts, etc with clear borders between them, explicitly diving the Humanities and the Arts from the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. In this mode students’ performance is assessed through cognitive test, logic, and memorised (rote) learning.

Although there are so many teachers who develop alternative approaches in their individual delivery, schools’ curricula overall have been stuck in the same mode of teaching, learning and assessment which has not changed for too long.

In contrast to that tradition, In-Light-of mode of learning offers a holistic view of the student’s ability and that encompasses the mind, the body, the soul, the social life, and importantly, the connection of the student with nature, community, and the planet. This mode of experiencing education at the University for Children is grounded in growing the student’s awareness of who they are, what kind of abilities they have, how to connect with others, how to understand what is happening around them, and how to fulfil their calling using their overall potential.

OFFERS:

Online
classes

This is an online mode of engagement for children where they can develop new skills in a fun and engaging manner that stimulates the mind, the body and the imagination.

URBAN GARDEN CLASS. London

A face-to-face connection in the bespoke half-day Urban Garden School, hosted in a back garden garden of an arts & crafts Victorian house in East London.

WILD WEEKEND RETREAT

WILD stands for: World Inspired Learning Development. We realise WILD in practice by inviting students to develop relations with the bigger world and learning about their own self while interacting with others and with nature. Retreats takes place once a term in the green surroundings of nature and wilderness.

"We have been using Marta's tutoring for over 7 yeas now. Firstly we started with my older boy, who achieved great results on his GCSE exams. Later my little one ( 5 years old at that time) joined her URBAN GARDEN classes which were full of surprises and a great fun, including learning Greek myths and dressing up, making a film based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. The children could even play with the camera and the light and shoot the scenes! Martin still adores attending Marta's classes, now a combination of online and offline, and as parents we are very pleased with his school progression. Without no hesitation I would highly recommend Marta and her passionate and professional way of teaching!"