Student Vs. Teacher

Do you remember all those times in an art or history class or even in the sciences when it felt like you were out of place? You know that moment where your test scores are given to you and you already know you cannot excel given the classes and the level of knowledge being handed down by your teacher. A lot of times even teachers make mistakes, like the mistake of calling students failures.

It is a mistake because failure is just an event and definitely not a person. Most of the things being taught in schools today are not preparing the students for the future, rather they are churning out people who can, in fact, think the way they are taught to think. We need to focus on the bigger picture which is the future of our students and this is no easy task.

Automation

We all agree that in the nearest future, a lot of jobs will be automated and the most sought-after leadership skill during employment will be created. The reason is this, no one will look for you or hire you because of what you know (honestly there are a thousand and one persons that have the same knowledge and we could always resort to Google) but they’ll rather look for you because of what you can do with the knowledge you have.

Can you actively solve real-world problems or do you just follow the directions and instructions on a manual? The world is fast evolving and artificial intelligence is taking over. Jack Ma said that we should not compete with artificial intelligence, all we can do is to develop a unique human intelligence. Teaching the same thing over and over to different sets of people and asking them to think alike in society is quite frankly leading them to disaster. These are features of a robot. We cannot beat them at their game because the only people who can actively and comfortably think like that are robots. You know garbage in, garbage out. Drills are for the teeth and not the human mind, all these repetitive tasks we learn every day do not challenge the mind to be creative.

Lightbulb

Many top companies today do not look at grades when hiring. Google has been quoted to say that GPAs are worthless criteria for hiring people. So, teachers, if you continue to teach today the way you taught yesterday, you undeniably rob the students of tomorrow. This does not mean students are lazy but the system demands them to regurgitate everything they had learned in tests and really do not care for innovation or creativity. Usually, the teachers say that “you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink”. This is not entirely correct because you could put salt in the horse’s hay which will make him thirsty all without your effort. So, there are many ways to better your students.

Teachers

See the teachers have the most important job on the planet. They create the lives of their students. They need to consciously keep asking themselves “how do I prepare a child for a future that doesn’t yet exist?” They’ll need to understand the place of passion and compassion when dealing with students, the need to become better listeners because communication is a two-way street. The future is in need of people who are inspired and motivated to create something different and this can only be done if students are given an opportunity to learn and excel at their passions without the constant limitations that the system poses.

And the parents need to give their children the same opportunity and come to a place of understanding of who exactly their children are. There’s a passage in the book “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran which reads, “Your children are not your children; they are the sons and daughters of life longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, they do not belong to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls for their souls’ dwell in the house of tomorrow”.

So, parents, you need to give your children the opportunity to explore and chase after their dreams. We keep talking about the future but are we visibly preparing and planning for the future the way we ought to? So, this is to all the teachers and the parents. That future you have talked so much about is now. Consciously make a decision to support that student or son or daughter of yours so tomorrow can be brighter courtesy of them.

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