International Women's Day 2019: 6 Iconic Female Educators
Today marks International Women’s Day (8th March). IWD celebrates the achievements of women socially, economically, culturally and politically and promotes gender equality. At accessplanit, we provide training management software that handles the boring admin behind training courses and lets educators get on with spreading knowledge and providing skills. This IWD, we are celebrating 6 iconic female educators in history.
The first International Women’s Day was held in 1975 during International Women’s Year and has been celebrated every year since. Each year, the 8th March is a celebration of women’s social, economic, cultural and political accomplishments. Read more about the history of IWD here.
6 Iconic Female Educators In History
Here’s a round-up of 6 iconic female educators throughout history:
1. Helen Keller
Helen Keller is the ultimate symbol for women in education. Despite the adversity of being deaf and blind, Helen learnt how to read and write. This was rare as the majority of blind and deaf people at this time were institutionalised. Helen was an advocate of tackling disabilities such as blindness among the poor and educated to the world about the link between the two. She was a mentor to many and continues to inspire people to this day.
An iconic female educator in Keller’s life was her teacher, Anne Sullivan who taught her to speak and also how to read Braille.
2. Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was committed to educating others her entire life. She was a firm believer that children should be able to shape and make decisions about their own future. As such, Montessori created a new type of school where learning was student-led rather than prescribed by a teacher. Her educational method, the Montessori Method, is still used by circa 30,000 public and private schools around the world.
3. Catherine Brewer
In 1840, Catherine Brewer was one of the first woman to earn a degree. At the time, education was heavily biased towards men and women typically stayed at home. Catherine’s achievement helped to pave the way for other women to believe that they too could go on and get an education.
4. Savitribai Phule
India's first female teacher, Savitribai Phule broke the traditional rules and stereotypes of educators in Indian. Phule and her husband founded the first Indian ran girl’s school providing much needed education to females. Despite protest by people in the country, Savitribai stood strong and went on to open five more schools.
5. Oprah Winfrey
A list of iconic women wouldn’t be complete without Oprah. Not an ‘educator’ in the traditional sense but it could be said that Oprah has educated the world in many areas of life. Just google ‘what can you learn from Oprah Winfrey?’ and you will be presented with hundreds of results. Oprah is a huge advocate of education and the importance of learning for life.
6. Brené Brown
Dr Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston. She has studied the human connection for over two decades and is actively teaching the world how to be vulnerable, how to deal with shame and how to embrace empathy to empower yourself.
In this TED talk, Brené shares her research and explores the power of being vulnerable.
Who else would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments ⬇
