My name is Angelos Avgousti and I was born and raised in Nicosia. I studied education at the department of primary education at the University of Cyprus with a specialty in natural sciences and music. I then continued with my postgraduate studies in Curriculum and Instruction at the aforementioned academic institution. At the same time I completed my music studies in Athens with the title of Music Studies with Technology.
In 2014, at the end of my studies and my involvement with music in various music scenes, I returned to Cyprus and worked in various programs of the Ministry of Education as a teacher in Primary Education, while also being a member of the academic staff of the European University of Cyprus. I have my own recording studio in which I work on the composition of songs as well as the production of music for children's theatrical plays. I have represented Cyprus by participating in several international festivals around the world (Shanghai, Israel, United Kingdom) with the most recent being the China International Art Festival where we presented the musical ‘Magic Elf’.
Nature has always been a point of reference for me since I grew up at the area of Pitsilia (Lagoudera and Agia Marina Xyliatou) and, as a kid, exploring the Madari mountains was one of my main activities on the weekends. This was the main reason that led me to love nature and to consider it as the most essential space of freedom and peace of my soul. The belief that children can learn better in environments outside the conventional classroom was proved to me when I had the opportunity to work as a music teacher at the elementary school of Kyperounta. There, I realized that the psychosynthesis of the children who grew up in this different environment was clearly different of the one the children I taught in the city had. Also, I noticed that the spiritual cultivation and enjoyment of the educational process of the specific students were at much better levels. Through this observation I consider that the forest school is the ideal place for teaching because children, through interactions, can discover a new world with different inspirations closer to nature. It will lead them to discover new experiences that the fast rhythms of society would not have allowed them to know. Nature is a world where the students can explore and discover knowledge.
Because, as Aristotle says:
"Three things are essential for education: NATURE, learning and exercise."