Traditional Formal educators: A threat to innovation and creativity

Different independent school of thoughts have different views and perspectives towards education and learning, while experts and professional educators strive to achieve and formulate different methods and skill in the dissemination of knowledge, few have successfully accomplish the task entrusted upon them by society. Education and learning is the most diverse, dynamic and never ending quest that any human being can undertake, and it can prove to be the most daunting of all task.
As a student and passionate believer in the power of knowledge, I have occasionally found myself in what I like to call “academic dilemma”, a situation where I like to choose what I feel is more important for me to study and what is of less importance during the course of an academic semester. This is as a result of the aspirations I have just as any other student dreaming of becoming successful in future. For instance I would feel subjects solely based on calculations are not necessarily relevant to someone who wants to be a civil activist. While this might appeal to the senses and desires of the average student, it is however one of the greatest misfortune of formal traditional education. An unfortunate situation where the scope of learning and choice of knowledge is being narrowed down to very specified scopes and fields.
To clearly explain my point, perhaps I should give my definition of a formal traditional education, which I find to be simple, it is simply any form or means of education were a student’s ability to think and analyze through a problem is based solely on what has been said or discussed by the educator or what has been written in the reference texts. As a result of this, It has become unfortunate that many student end of failing major examinations as a result of the limitations placed on learning, while others fail because they have failed to provide what is “in the slides” that is being provided by the educator to students. I have even heard lecturers making it clear to their students that they are not likely to pass their examination if they fail to regurgitate what has been provided to them in the slides. Thus a lot of students have fallen victims of the traditional formal education “syndrome”, however, I do not place the blame on the educators alone. Different tertiary institutions have different cultures of learning and in most cases educators are forced to confine themselves within the learning cultures of the institution by authorities and students who by human nature are resistant to change and prefer being spoon fed.
The risk of conventional methods of knowledge transfer cannot be overemphasized or analyzed, that should be the subject of further research, however the biggest threat it poses is the imprisonment of the mind, where the mind is taught subconsnously not to think “outside the box” or better said, outside the class. This is why most classes conducted in the strict conventional learning environments, with lecturers playing the roles of masters and all knowing gurus breed this most conventional and rigid minds in our society, this is greatly unhealthy for the young mind. Thus, it can be said that the thin line that separates Ivy League colleges and the regular colleges are the learning atmosphere and knowledge transfer methods, not simply the presence or absence of smart gifted kids and genius lecturers. I am a strong believer that formal education should be a tool that facilitates the never ending quest for learning, in the most diverse and dynamic manner were every aspect of the society is not left untouched. However, when those entrusted with shaping the future through shaping the mind, are not willing or able to let the minds of their student free up and wonder about in the endless pursuit of knowledge, then the aim of education becomes defeated.
Coming back to the great role of educators in the society in general, we can summarize everything into one word Empowerment; this is one of the greatest words in the English language, with powers greater than the matching barbarian army of Attila the great leader of the Huns. The question is how can an educator empower his/her students? Educators empower their students by believing in their students potentials, even when hopes for utilizing those potentials seem bleak. A very learned friend of mine vividly recalled to me a conversation he ones had with his classmates during an in-between class breaks. On one of such occasions, his friends mocked him for being the dumbest kid in the class; it was a terrible experience he said as he recalled his ordeal with occasionally flashes of mixed reaction on his face like a bride on the day of her wedding. He told me that he was looked down upon by his classmates simply because his answers were always different from the rest of the class and he always asked “stupid questions”. In fact at some point, he actually felt like he was really the dumbest kid in the class. Looking back from those depressing days he said, what he eventually found out was that, his teacher never empowered him as a student and never encouraged him to set his mind open and think outside the box. My learned friend now simply laughs at his memories as today he is one of the best minds in his field. However, had he not been empowered by his new teacher later in life, he may never have shaken the belief that he is actually a dumb kid with no sense of direction. My learned friend’s new teacher who happened to be a “white man” saw something in my friend that nobody else did, he saw a mind that was open, a mind that had the ability to think of what has not been thought of, a mind with endless potentials ticking, waiting to explode to its full potentials like a timed bomb, such is mind of every human, he thus empowered my friend by believing in his dreams and convincing him that having a different point of view, did not mean one is less of a human or student but that one is actually thinking beyond the confide boarders of his class.
Additionally, educators have the responsibility of empowering their students by teaching them the necessary skills they need to succeed in the quest for lifelong learning. Like a kung-fu master who teaches his student the secrets of the art, but does not chooses the opponent which his students might likely face in future, teachers are suppose to “show the road to a student and not walk him through it” as one of my favorite educators once said. I don’t know exactly who coined the phrase; “learning through spoon feeding”, but it’s meaning suggest to me the perfect way to enslaving the mind. Going back to my learned friend and his experience with the “white man” that changed his life, my friend recalled that in an effort by his lecturer to empower his mind, he unlike most of the rest of his teachers encouraged him to watch more television, read more magazines, news papers and even if he founds sex to be a curious thing, then he should watch a few x-rated movies to quench his curiosity. However, he made him write a report every week on what he had learned new and to share it with his class mate whether it was related to the class subject or not, he recalled an embarrassing day when he had to share about male puberty experience in front of the class with all the beautiful girls present. My friend had no idea why he had to be doing this, until long after he had left school that he discovered that what his teacher was doing was to set no boundaries to his learning scope and to empower him with a mindset that does not consider any form of learning a taboo.
Another way through which educators can empower their students is by prodding them to take risks. Most cultures and societies discourage some out rightly, risk taking. This cannot be unconnected to the general fear we naturally have of the unknown, the fear of change from a current situation to an unexpected one. I think it was in the book, Who moved my cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D. That it asks, “What would you do if you were not afraid? “This is a very powerful question with deep meaning which we all should occasionally ask ourselves. A lot of us limit our potentials and abilities simply because of fear, the fear to take risks and explore new things and ways of doing them. An educator has to prod his students to take risk, to be creative, innovative and independent minded. This can only be achieved by removing boundaries to learning and class discussions, and by removing the status quo that gives the supreme powers of knowledge to teachers and teachers alone.
Empowerment of students by educators can also and should come in the form of the recognition of successes and achievements. It is said that the best way to motivate a person is to listen to that person; a lot is being achieved and gained by both educators and students when there is more of listening by the educators rather than less. Through listening, a teacher gives his student a sense of pride and a feeling of being important and respected, in addition to building a stronger bond of relationship, because of these, the student psychologically feels the need to live up to that standard of feeling important and respected in class, and thus strives to broaden his/her knowledge so that he/she can continue to contribute to the academic learning process. On the other hand, the recognition of success has an almost instant effect on the psychology of a student as I have personally experienced. It can be said to be as simple as this; when a student does something good or says something well no matter how little or insignificant it might be, an educator should recognize the action of the student and praise him/her in public same goes to when the action is negative. However in the case of a negative action that requires punishment and or criticism, educators I believe should never take a swift action immediately in public particular if it is an action that requires comments and criticism, this is to avoid embarrassing a student and putting him/her on the spotlight and on the defensive, against the educator. However in the case of punishments and penalties, it can be issued in public so as to deter its future occurrence by other students.
On a final note, looking back at the experiences my learned friend had his “white teacher” , one can only imagine what would have happened had the teacher not taken the initiative to empower my friend in his studies, who knows what my friend’s life would have looked like? Perhaps the best he could have been will be what I also like to call “a learned and rigid text book guru”, someone with no dynamics in knowledge and approach. Even a decent conversation with such a person would prove to be an uphill task. Thanks to his teacher’s empowerment, my learned friend has become one of the most enlightened people I have ever met, who knows about virtually everything and has a smart answer to every question, something that occasionally gets me jealous, I hear they call people like him genius, but don’t forget he was once regarded as of the “dumbest kids” in his class.
As an educator in whatever respect or scope that is, your decision to empower your students have a direct impact on the future trajectory of their lives and the society we live in. Educators are not to be stingy with the time they are suppose to invest in their students, by affirming your student’s potential, broadening his/her skills, pushing them to accept risk, and celebrating their success in public and failures in private, you are propelling them into stunning accomplishments and building a better society for humanity.