Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vikram Prasad. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vikram, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My fascination with learning started at a very young age. When I was seven years old, I would staple papers directly onto my walls to emulate the bulletin boards I saw in my teachers’ classrooms (sorry, mom and dad!). But it didn’t stop there – I’d dream up lesson plans and create worksheets to go along with them. It’s clear I loved experimenting with the process of learning. And as I grew up and had professional experiences outside the educational space, I never lost that desire to engage with and contribute to it.

While studying Data Science for my undergraduate degree, I followed the tug I felt to pursue education-based endeavors. Tutoring became my side hustle and I more intimately understood how learning can be frustrating for many people. Both children and adults feel desperate to make sense of a subject, but don’t often have the support they need to uncover a breakthrough. And those breakthroughs are what make learning fun and exciting! When I thought about how I could use my skills to make a meaningful impact on education, I knew I had to think big. Tutoring is effective and influential but limiting. Curriculum design, on the other hand, can engage a larger number of students and educators. I saw an opportunity to combine my variety of passions, skills, and learnings to design curricula that break the mold of our current educational system and make a tangible difference in the lives of kids and educators.

Surprisingly, my time “playing school” has materialized into just that. I get to make actual lessons and worksheets and see “a-ha” moments that students have because of them. Seeing a struggle transform into a breakthrough because of this individualized approach is as rewarding as it gets. I genuinely believe we can make a high-level impact on education if we develop intuitive, engaging, and quality curricular materials for students to learn in a way that is tailored and effective for where they’re at — not where we expect them to be. My experience has taught me each of these pieces are essential for optimal learning. And, that innovating through curricula is a meaningful way to take action in reimagining education for future generations.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Of course! I’m Vikram, a curriculum designer and coach with a fiery passion for education. My background in Data Science enables me to take a methodical, data-driven approach to curriculum development, and my array of experiences inside and outside of the educational space allows me to see learning through multiple lenses, which support my ability to design curricula that are accessible to a variety of learners.

Our educational system was built to serve a single archetype — the “typical” child whose life experiences have been quintessential or standard. But youth educational professionals and families like you want to serve learners as individuals, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. At Pionera Edu, I believe education should be expansive. We exist to support the desire to teach kids in a way that speaks to them, and we design curricula to celebrate individuality, strengthen what’s innate, and encourage educational breakthroughs. This is the kind of education children deserve. One that provides them the opportunity to find their lane of genius, fall in love with learning, and transform into pioneering adults that change the world. When we celebrate individuality from a young age, our kids become pioneering adults.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I always love reading books or stories that offer me new perspectives or really make me think introspectively. There’s always more to learn, be it new perspectives to hear, new ideas to try, or new ways to innovate. The second you get super comfortable somewhere or with something is when it’s time to try something new. One of my favorite books is Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education. I believe in the power of a holistic, transformative education — one that considers the whole child. This book has profoundly shaped my approach to education by emboldening me to take tried-and-true techniques and innovate them in meaningful ways to create accessible, engaging, and holistic learning experiences for youth.

One of my other top books that continues to guide my philosophy is 101 Essays that Will Change the Way You Think. We often get so stuck in our own heads that we become our own biggest barrier to success. Kids are no different — they may just have trouble expressing it. Whether it is via my tutoring or curriculum design services, mindfulness and well-being is an integral feature of my offerings. I so deeply believe that you can only pour out into others as much as you pour into yourself, and I want my the students I work with to see that.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There’s this common myth that students have a preferred learning style – they’re an auditory learner, or they’re a kinesthetic learner, or they’re a visual learner, etc. However, there’s a lot of evidence and studies that have since proven that none of this is true. Learners benefit most when they’re given multiple forms to process information. So, I think when children are fed into this belief early on that they’re only a visual learner, or only an auditory learner, and so on, they’re putting this self-imposed limit onto themselves and going into learning with this attitude that if it isn’t presented to them in they’re “ideal” modality, they can’t learn. And, this couldn’t be farther from the science-backed truth. Students need multiple modalities to process and reinforce information. So, for example, when students are presented with content that they can see and hear simultaneously, they’re able to better process and retain it. I, very early on, fell into the notion of learning styles, and it took me quite a while to unlearn. I was not only limiting myself, but I was limiting the students I was working with by differentiating my instruction based on so-called “learning styles.” So since, in my tutoring and curriculum design, I really take the time to design for multiple learning preferences, so that students are able to engage in multiple modalities to create a truly engaging and holistic learning experience. And, I have really seen the results and impact of this in my work. My students are engaged and interested in what they are learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pioneraedu.com

Image Credits
Kadie Smith