BY JONAH NYONI The meaning of education is changing fast. It is no longer enough to memorise and fill the mind with theories, but knowing, being relevant, and applying what we know. Teaching should not be a science, where the students have to be beaten into the track until they know what the teacher wants, but it should be an art of motivating students to fulfill their true purpose. Learning should be a relevant process that empowers individuals to relevant contributors to society. Align the teacher Does the teacher answer to the needs of students? Or is the teacher armed with information that no longer answers students’ needs and era? The most important and influential people are teachers because they shape how learners think. If teachers are not exposed, they will limit learners to the small world that they know. Teachers should be more than what they learnt at college, and become forces that will shift our thinking paradigms. Unique purpose Learners have unique needs, wants, talents, gifts, endowments, abilities, skills, passions, dreams, and purpose. When students are learning, they understand and define things differently. Probably, when Michael Jackson was growing up, he loved cars, not that he wanted to be a mechanic, but he wanted to ride expensive cars when he became a pop star. So every teacher, tutor, or lecturer should approach everyone differently and teach them to become their true purpose. In reality, every teacher should be a coach. A coach empowers someone to become their true self. Problem-solving skills One famous question that I learnt at primary school was: When you grow up what do you want to be? Adam Grant (2019), a contributor in the New York Times said: “Stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up.” Why? Grant said because that “question forces children to define themselves in terms of work.” Instead, we should ask our children what problems they want to solve. This opens their thinking to limitless possibilities that they want to reach for. The internet of things Unquestionably internet has disrupted how we do things in the industry, office, home and at school. The internet affects and influences every part of our lives. The money game The school did not teach us how to earn more money, it trained us to be educated slaves. Most people in Zimbabwe are underpaid and caught up in rat-race. You don’t need a good job to be rich, you need proper, focused financial education. We need money in almost every part of our lives. Money makes life better as it gives us choices. Parting point Arie de Gues wrote: “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.” Education is not about memorising, but mastery in the field of your interest. Education is not about overloading your mind with information, but the ability to see opportunities and answer to the need. Jonah Nyoni is an author and motivational speaker. Contact him on +263 772 581 918
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