Teachers are at the center of advaya’s work. They shape the learning journeys we offer and bring depth, content, and connection to each course. And we are deeply grateful for this.
We spoke with Virginia Vigliar, Head of Content at advaya, who leads the curation of our faculty and plays a central role in shaping the way courses are developed and experienced. In this conversation, she shares what it means to work closely with teachers, how her background as a curator and writer informs her approach, and why thoughtful content creation is more important than ever, both within and beyond the classroom.
What does working with teachers mean to you, and how does advaya select teachers?
Working with advaya teachers is an absolute honour, I get to meet incredible wisdom keepers and feel inspired every day. We go through a process of deep research and reflection, we try to find teachers who have a deep understanding of our world and its intricacies. All our teachers are deeply passionate about their work as a transformative force in this world.
How would you describe your relationship with teachers?
My relationship with teachers starts as professional and often ends as a friendship. In the making of a course we share the joys and struggles that it entails, and that inevitably brings you closer. It’s so beautiful to be able to find this with people who I admire so much.
What makes advaya courses special?
Advaya’s courses are sensorial, so not only are they made beautifully and with amazing quality, but they also have interactive features and other elements meant to stimulate various senses, or as I say, various types of knowledge. We also work with a mix of active and passive learning, and every student has the opportunity to meet the teacher in one of the Live Q&As. The community part is also key for us, and students get to talk to each other through the course, and just bring really beautiful insights and further research into each other's lives.
In an age of information overload, what makes teachers more essential than ever?
Teachers are storytellers, they carry knowledge from one generation to the next and through this oral history, we can maintain culture, we can remember, and reconnect with our history, ourselves, and the land. A grandmother can be a teacher too, it is not only academic, which is why at advaya we try to highlight indigenous wisdom keepers as some of our greatest teachers too. Education, not necessarily academic, is at the foundation of profound cultural change, which is what we need right now. These courses have depth and provide a learning experience that is incredibly unique, and can be done at home!
What is one thing you have recently learnt from a teacher that has stuck with you?
From the recent Heart Wisdom course, and speaking to Satish Kumar, I learned the importance of leaning towards love as a transformative force. To understand the cultural importance of love and kindness with all beings and with each other, and how incredible that is. It changed the way I show up in my own personal relations too.
How could someone collaborate if they wish to teach a course?
We are always welcoming new voices to our faculty. You can fill the form here.
What would be the added value for teachers in collaborating with advaya?
We facilitate the “boring stuff”, like comms, marketing, website management and all of that, so that the teacher can focus on the creative part and make a course that is up to their, and our, standards.
How does your work as curator and writer influence the production of the course/choice of teachers?
My work has been guided by the principles by which advaya is guided by: non-duality, depth, and relationality. I also truly believe that reviving our relationship to nature, self, and the arts, can shift our culture in a way that can transform the way we see the world within and outside of us. It is truly fundamental to detangle ourselves from these dominating paradigms that are at the root of many of the problems we face today.
Do you have time to express your creativity outside of work, or do you prefer to convey it through your role in advaya?
This is a hard one. I have found it a little challenging to balance this role with my creative identity, as they are very intertwined. I feel that so much of my creative effervescence goes into every day, and I am not finding the time to step into my individual work from one moment to the next. I am not good at compartmentalising my creativity as it is messy, visceral, and raw. But I am slowly understanding how to do this, so I’ll keep you posted on that!
