Armenian News Network / Armenian News

June 2, 2019

BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN

NEW YORK, NY—-At a recent teacher’s meeting with his staff, St. Vartan School Principal Hovannes Khosdeghian emphasized his continuing goal of a “school without walls,” where students follow their interests, and where learning is a pleasure.

As the youngsters enthusiastically enter the school held at the Eastern Armenian Diocese, Khosdeghian is there to greet them with a wide smile and warm hug. The school session begins and ends with a prayer.

During the beginning “socialization” period, the children played excitedly with each other. “They miss each other,” explains the principal. “They love the school, and the teachers, and don’t feel embarrassed to go to the teachers when they are in trouble.”

The school which has 23 students, from ages two to the early teens, who come every Saturday from 10 A.M to 2 P.M., not only learn the Armenian language, but also partake in Armenian songs and dances.      

“The music is related to Armenian historical periods,” he explains. “Their ears which are not used to it, get used to the tonality.”

A SET OF “MUSTS”

Since his own leadership at the St. Vartan Armenian School, he has instituted a strong set of “musts” which include teachers observing the physical needs of the children, especially for those who may have visual, hearing, or speaking difficulties.  

A child’s home environment must also be evaluated, he emphasizes. From the age of five years, it’s crucial that the sounds of the Armenian letters are understood. “A child cannot speak if he or she does not have the vocabulary,” he explains.

A child should know a thousand words after being in the school a year. After one to three years in the school, the goal is 7500 words, and for a three to eight-year old, the goal is 12000 words. By age 10, “the learning gap between children who can learn vocabulary quickly and those who do not is different. Even when a child is sleeping, the brain is working,” he explains.

INTEGRATIVE TEACHING

“A child needs the complete culture, including history, music, art, dance, not just vocabulary,” he continues. “There has to be an integration of words, pictures, environment. A child can express oneself when she or he can understand.”  

This integrative approach is based on the student’s age, knowledge, school and home environments, background, and delivery. Communication by the teachers must be based on the needs of the children,” he stresses.

In a surprise statement, Khosdeghian stated, that “the child governs the school, sets the school’s pace. The child should be engaged, not overwhelmed. It should not be a system of a power relationship. My job is to teach the teachers who give voice and academic skills to the children.” 

IMPRESSIVE BACKGROUND

This detailed system of teaching is based on Hovannes’ training for the priesthood when he studied in Rome for six years. His pedagogical training emphasized an educational environment.

In 1980, Khosdeghian graduated from Rome’s Saint Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University. Appointed Academic Dean in the Mekhitarian Seminary in Venice, he “saw that what I learned there was the theoretical, not the practical.”

At the Mekhitarist Fathers’ Armenian School from 2009 to 2010, in Tujunga, California, he applied the methodology and new techniques for grades two to eight. “In addition to the teachers, parents were also involved, and the results were very successful.”

In 2016, Hovannes Khosdeghian was appointed the principal of the St. Vartan Armenian School, much to the delight of parents and children.     

During the time of this writer’s visit, a parent who was leaving at the end of the school day, said emotionally, “I started crying last week in the car when my children, ages five and seven, started singing the Armenian songs they had learned in school.”