From Learner to Leader: The Journey of Lukesh Kurre
When Lukesh Kurre looks back on his journey from a small town in Chhattisgarh to becoming a Hindi teacher at a private school, he smiles with quiet pride. For him, teaching is not just a profession, it’s a calling that began in the corridors of his own childhood classroom.
“I first dreamt of becoming a teacher when I was in primary school,” he recalls. “But it truly took shape when I entered higher secondary. My Class 9 teacher inspired me deeply, he respected every student, started lessons with what we already knew, and made learning feel alive. I wanted to be like him.”
Finding Purpose at DIET Ambikapur
After completing Class 12, Lukesh’s decision to pursue the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) was a natural one. A career counselling session at his school introduced him to the world of teacher education, and soon he found himself stepping into the campus of DIET Ambikapur in Chattisgarh, a journey that would shape not just his career, but his outlook on learning itself.
“The curriculum felt completely new,” Lukesh shares. “We had to understand how children think, behave, and learn something we never really studied before. It felt like revisiting childhood, but from a teacher’s perspective.”
At DIET, Lukesh discovered that teaching was more than textbooks and timetables; it was about empathy, creativity, and reflection. His first real taste of classroom life came through Shala Avlokan, a school observation exercise. There, he saw how theory translated or often failed to translate into reality. “We had to notice how schools function, how children learn, and where improvements could be made. That experience grounded everything I learned later.”
A Turning Point with EdIndia
For Lukesh, his connection with Sterlite EdIndia Foundation came at a critical time. During the orientation program, EdIndia’s team introduced him and his peers to data-driven insights and digital learning tools that helped them understand their own performance. “We saw our performance data visualized through charts and graphs,” he remembers. “It helped us identify our weaknesses and work on them. It was the first time I realized how technology could guide professional growth.” EdIndia’s workshops soon became a defining feature of his learning journey. One session on ‘Qualities of a Good Teacher’ stayed with him. “The trainer didn’t just lecture us. He made us reflect on our strengths; leadership, honesty, discipline and how they connect to the classroom. For the first time, I understood that teaching is also about self-awareness.” Through mock tests on EdIndia’s Teachable Web App, Lukesh prepared for his CGTET and CTET exams, essential qualifications for teachers in India. “I didn’t even buy a separate book,” he laughs. “The platform’s mock tests and feedback analysis helped me track my progress. My marks kept improving; first 92, then 98, and later 105. That’s how I cleared both exams.”Learning by Doing
By his second year, Lukesh was ready for his 96-day internship in a local primary school. But lesson planning, he admits, was a challenge. That’s when EdIndia foundations’ project coordinator, Himanshu, introduced him to a simple but effective method: I do-You watch-We do-You do-I watch. “This structure helped me engage my students better and manage time efficiently,” Lukesh says. “By the end of the internship, I could see the difference in how students responded.” He also began maintaining a reflective teaching diary, something his mentors encouraged him to take seriously. “Our principal told us not to write for formality, but to record our real classroom experiences; the challenges, the small wins, and what we learned every day. I still follow that habit in my school today.”
Becoming a Teacher of the Future
Now teaching Hindi to middle school students, Lukesh is bringing the same spirit of innovation and curiosity into his own classroom. “Earlier, English was a weak area for many of us,” he admits. “But through EdIndia’s reading comprehension workshops, I learned simple techniques to approach unseen passages, identify main ideas, and save time, skills I now pass on to my students.”
More recently, he attended an EdIndia workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Education, which opened new doors for creativity. “We learned how to create AI prompts for lesson planning, assessments, and student engagement. I now use AI tools to design higher-order thinking questions for my students. It’s amazing to see how curious they’ve become.”
Lighting the Way for Others
For Lukesh, teaching is not just about sharing knowledge, it’s about shaping mindsets. He continues to mentor younger students at DIET Ambikapur and often returns to share his experiences with new batches. “If I could transform from a hesitant learner into a confident teacher, anyone can,” he says. “All it takes is the right guidance and belief.”
From being inspired by a teacher to becoming one himself, Lukesh Kurre’s story is a testament to the power of opportunity, mentorship, and perseverance. His journey embodies EdIndia Foundations’ belief, that when teachers grow, so does the future of learning.
Learn more about EdIndia program, an exceptional teacher education and training initiative designed for both pre-service and in-service educators.