"Keep on coming to my class and I will insist on surprising you"

John Dewey once said "I believe that education which does not occur through forms of life, forms that are worth living for their own sake, is always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and to deaden". In other words, education is not only that we receive in classrooms or what we learn from our educators. It is not confined to reading research papers or attending classes. Yet, it can happen in so many ways.

Usually, when I know that I will have a guest speaker in any class, the norm is that speaker will lecture us. Yesterday, it was completely different. When I first saw Mrs Jennifer entering the classroom with Dr Joyanne, I said that she must be a woman with a considerable amount of knowledge which she will share with us. And when I noticed that we will sit in a circle, not facing the projector, all I thought about was that this woman will have an academic discussion and that she wants to be friendly.

 

First, Mrs Jennifer wrote down our names, I was wondering why she is doing that. Then, the discussion started by her asking a question which I think is one of the most difficult ones to answer "Tell me one thing about yourself that you think I should know!". This makes you think, should I say something about me that look really interesting and attractive? Or should I speak my mind and say what I feel comfortably describes me? This takes me back to the Narrative challenging it was to write the story of your life; to see the stops you made, the hardships you overcame and the progress you have achieved so far. This also makes me think where would that take me?  Mrs jennifer wanted to know about us, so she relates to our experiences and for her talk to be more beneficial to us all.

After introducing ourselves, Mrs Jenniefr started to tell her story. She started by her education then she accompanied us to a journey of transparency, success and determination.  She told us about the many places she has been and the development initiatives she launched or led. What really grabbed my attention was when she said that "We help people to know how to help themselves".  She said that help is not about the interventions international organizations make in countries that need help; yet. To teach these people how to continue without them. That made me think about these two Chinese proverbs "Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime" and “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand" .

When we first started our class, and when I first didn’t find one of the readings, I sent Dr Joyanne an email and talked to her in the following class that I didn’t found them what would I do? And the answer came "You can find them through online search. And if you didn't, I am sure you will find other journal articles on the same topic". I talked to myself "Oooookay…mmmm…I don't get it..should I read these specific readings or do what?". Later on, I understood that she is giving us this list of reading as a guidance, to show us the road so we carry on and drive the remaining distance ourselves. I am taught how to be a self learner for life, how to break the boundaries I am putting for myself.

I believe now that Dr Joyanne's official statement is "Keep on coming to my class and I will insist on surprising you". It is only when we step out of our comfort zone and do things that we usually don’t do, we start to develop new skills, gain rich experiences and reveal even more about our personalities. This is the form of education that stays engraved in your memory and never fades away.

  C u in another surprising class!