The one thing that separates us humans from other species is our capacity for learning. Institutionalized education is a necessary ritual that humans go through as part of a lifecycle to prepare for adulthood. While education and the act of learning don’t stop once we’ve stepped out of school or university, what we are taught in the first two decades of life definitively shapes how we turn out as human beings…from our ability to cope with personal, social and financial challenges, to our entire attitude towards living. That is why schools and the way education happens matter so much.
As in many other parts of the world, this region is grappling with the sweeping challenges currently taking place in education and learning; the matter of shifting demographics and social dynamics, the global transformations in our definitions of work and the workplace, and the way we process the growing influence of the internet and the convergence of communication.
The one thing that is essential in navigating these times, and building a framework that is responsive to our challenges locally and regionally, is to nurture innovation and allow evolution to happen. That is a process that will only occur if we encourage candid and robust dialogue among those who provide education; by allowing ongoing discourse among teachers, the management of educational institutions, parents and yes, university students as well.
From my conversations with a number of teachers, it appears that in many institutions they are not allowed to participate in discussions on methodology and curricula. They are brought in to merely ‘execute’ teaching plans, often according to rigid schedules and outdated standards.
Yet if education is to improve and evolve, instructors need to be part of the conversation. They need to be allowed to help shape, adapt and improve coursework and make it relevant to real-life situations and current challenges. We should recognize that teachers are ultimately the ones who have direct, and active, engagement with students; and that is why they should be impassioned, and empowered, to deliver learning that is relevant, dynamic and fulfilling.
Sana Bagersh
Managing Editor, Tempo
