Educators in this twenty first century have been urged to adapt new methods of teaching to cultivate the minds of students in order to equip them for the challenges of the modern world.
This was posited by the Director of Maribet School, Lekki, Mrs. Kobune Ben-Uponi during a media parley in Lagos. She stated that in response to present economic knowledge, schools from nursery to higher education must provide future oriented education to enable “our children” understand and solve real world problems.
According to her, the need for creativity and innovation are paramount in attaining a step by step realisation of inculcating a synthesized knowledge of outside the box of specific disciplines. Citing instances of medical and educational arena, Ben-Uponi pointed out that complex syndromes such as autism which demand the need for interdisciplinary expertise and problem-centered teams of people working together on common goals.
She insisted that teachers ought to be reflective educators to be able to cultivate the minds of the students intellectually and in personal characters, beckoning them to know their contents and how to pass the contents to their students effectively since one cannot give what he or she does not have.
She said that our modern day youth especially our teenagers have been found wanting in morals and common ethics that portrays respects for self and elders. To arrest the trend, she tasked educationist to cultivation emotional and interpersonal intelligence among students, teachers, and the greater school community that is essential in achieving goals in a world of diversity of perspectives.
But while all these are important to consider, Ben-Uponi maintained that the question lies on “how” educators can adjust to the already existing system of education in the country in cultivating the minds of our children intellectually and in character development.
According to the director, rather than dishing out assignments as starters, teachers should assist the students to mastering some bodies of knowledge, synthesize it and consider ways of expanding and using it to accomplish out-of-the-box ways.
The education consultant who lamented the teaching style of many teachers enjoined them to go to the use of history, science and maybe arts which she noted can be effectively for children. “Teachers should go back to history or current occurrences of prominent relevance, which are capable of capturing these young minds.”
She said, “instances of those found wanting in areas where they ought not to, should be emphasized, not forgetting the consequences of their behaviours. These are practical examples to tackle real life questions that may border on the minds of these children. Schools of the 21st century are to respond to the students’ changing needs. ”
