By Richard Bhainie

A WELL-KNOWN Facebook entertainer and young mathematics teacher has channelled his humour into bringing life to mathematics and utilised his social media influence to reach persons far and wide.

Leon Beaton, 23, is a fourth and fifth form teacher at the Port Kaituma Secondary School in Region One . He graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in 2016 and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Education programme, majoring in mathematics, at the University of Guyana.

While he was in fourth form at St. Rose’s High School, he identified a unique teaching method from one of his very own teachers, Mr. Venture, and developed a passion for teaching.

“He was a training teacher from college, he was doing teaching practice at our school and after that he came to our school to teach; so he was the one that [sic] gave me inspiration to actually become a teacher because he was a young teacher and he was very good at teaching,” Beaton told the Sunday Chronicle during an interview.

Beaton explained that when enrolling at the CPCE, it was his preference to teach Industrial Technology and to ‘minor’ in mathematics; however, he was placed in a dilemma to choose either of the two, and so he picked mathematics and a love affair with the subject ensued.

“I was never a big mathematics person in school; I never had this love for it, but while attending the CPCE, the lecturers there eventually allowed me to finally fall in love with mathematics and that’s how I end [sic] up liking it and teaching it,” he explained.

Hailing from the community of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, Beaton was placed at the Port Kaituma Secondary School as part of his contractual obligations with the CPCE.

“At that time, I counted myself as being unlucky that got chosen to be sent to the hinterland, I even tried to change it,” Beaton said. However, with some friendly faces by his side, his ‘luck’ eventually turned around.

He explained that he encountered a difficult time adjusting when he was sent to the locality, as he was just 18 years of age and barely able to fend for himself. He had also encountered several challenges, such as his apartment being without electricity and the only amenities provided to him were a bed and a gas stove.

“I spent many nights crying, wishing I was with my mother, but I met some very nice people and they helped me to adjust; the teachers at the school helped me to adjust and become comfortable and I made myself comfortable,” he said.

GOING ONLINE

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, unable to meet his students in person and worried about their well-being, given the fact that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) was rapidly approaching, Beaton took to Facebook to teach.

Beaton was already popular on Facebook for posting comedic content; he usually shares funny pictures and videos of himself and memes, from which he garnered a massive following, most of whom are students.

Subsequent to uploading his teaching videos, his wider following base reached out to him and his content attracted a lot of attention on the social media platform. He reacted by creating a page dedicated specifically to mathematics content.

“So I decided that I will create a specific page to share these videos, so that people can go to the page and find everything related to mathematics in one place,” he said.

MEMES AND MATHS

Cognisant of the negative perspective associated with the subject of mathematics, whereby persons are of the opinion that it is the most difficult thing to comprehend, Beaton is on a mission to ‘bring life’ to the subject. He is determined to merge his humour with the subject and offer a unique teaching strategy and methodology that would capture the attention of many and make them enjoy the learning process.

Beaton said that he would usually scroll through Facebook and find memes related to mathematics; however, there is often the restriction of ‘only some will understand.’ Aware of the interest in memes, he will be incorporating them into learning.

Beaton explained that as a student himself, he resorts to various individuals on the World Wide Web for teaching and reinforcing of various concepts.

“I would be happy that these persons on YouTube would be able to explain things to me, so that is the same type of feeling I want to create with people who watch my videos, I just want to help people how these people helped me,” Beaton said.

He explained that his students play an encouraging role in everything he does and he enjoys teaching in Port Kaituma.

He took the opportunity to encourage trainee teachers to refrain from ‘trying to get away’ from teaching in the hinterland as he once tried to, because it later became one of the best aspects of his life.

“I want to encourage them to take up the challenge because the children in the hinterland are not given the same opportunity as children on the coast; give them a fair chance so Guyana can improve performance not only in certain parts, but all around,” Beaton said.

He can be found on Facebook and YouTube as ‘Sir Leon Beaton –Mathematics.’