How Stephen Hawking Influenced Learners all over the World

As the world mourns the loss of the visionary scientist Professor Stephen Hawking; famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist who helped to bring his ideas about black holes and quantum gravity to a broad public audience making the universe a more comprehensible place for the rest of us, I marvel at his immense fortitude. He is a beacon of light shining through the perils of impossibilities and filling our minds with greater conviction that anything is possible! His confinement to the wheelchair by a form of motor-neuron disease- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) could not limit his life. On the contrary, he transformed our view of the universe.

To us educators, he is a role model for his intellectual prowess and original thinking, rather than the fact that he had motor-neuron disease. Learning is continuously evolving and the singular focus of ‘shared value creation’ aims at addressing social needs by including children with different abilities within the general schooling system. Education empowers the students of determination with a stronger place and role in the society, allowing people to achieve better education, better environmental quality and longer life expectancy.

Prof. Hawking paid tribute to the teacher who inspired his early steps into scholarship. He shared with the world that Dikran Tahta at St. Albans School opened his eyes to Mathematics, which he described as the “blueprint of the universe”. His quest to answer, “the big question, where did the universe come from?” is a question that shrouds every young mind that is fresh and ready to explore. The role of a teacher becomes so much more meaningful as he or she encompasses the responsibility of shaping young learners and offering them the universe as a canvas to inspire and innovate. Every child is unique and every child needs a different stimulus for an expected or for that matter an unexpected outcome. I am sure that we, the teachers, are motivated when we read Stephen Hawking’s famous lines, “I have to admit – I wasn’t the best student – but with his support, I became a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, in a position once held by Isaac Newton.”

The scientist’s life itself is a case study for academicians and students alike. Reinstating the mentor role of the teacher as education giver, as well as his experimenting with radically different professional streams for students make an amazing combination which gives us a greater understanding of the potentials of the learner and the learning environment.

Hawking, a professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Director of Research at the school‘s Center for Theoretical Cosmology and author of popular book ‘A Brief History of Time’; surprised us with his multiple appearances in ‘The Simpsons’- TV series and has been called the show’s most intelligent guest star. In Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993, he delighted the audience by sitting down with Data, Einstein, and Newton for a quick round of cards; thus building his connect with young and adults at the same time. His exemplary life is the biggest influencer to everyone who is willing to make an effort. His life’s statement, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change”, creates a blueprint for our future generation as they prepare for the competitive global world.