I remember sitting in a lecture when I was completing my teaching degree back in 2000. The lecturer said something that struck a chord. He said “education is a conversation” and asked us to let that idea sink in. I wish that I could remember more but I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t even recall the lecturer’s name. Nonetheless, his message continues to deeply resonate with me, impacting my work nearly 20 years later. His point was that education is not a one way street. It’s not a monologue but a dialogue; a back-and-forth between the generations that has been playing out across the ages. Our place, he said, was to join that conversation at the most formal level for our time; as teachers. The irony that the medium for this message was a one-way lecture was not lost on me. Yet that medium did nothing to diminish the potency of his message. Over the years, I’ve wondered about the extent to which the medium can influence the message and thus impact education. Through the lens of viewing education as a conversation, I watched as the pace of technological advancements and disruptions continued to gain speed. Today, we bear […]
