Children need not be forced to study

Mon, 18 March 2013

By Kabeer Yousuf — MUSCAT — We are ridden by over-expectations thanks to the maddening pace of modern life and we are venting them out on our children forcing them to fulfil our surrealistic dreams, says an education expert. “We are not doing justice to our children by exerting pressure on them to study and limit their play time. On the other hand, studies and hobbies need to be integrated and not necessarily be balanced,” says Oussama Haddad, Chief Educational Consultant and Co-Founder of Sage Advice.
“Children come into this world with their own personalities. For parents and teachers who do not share similar personalities, they need to contrast their own expectations with the way the child views their world; because success happens when the child uses his powers and strengths as a tool for self-expression.”
For children and pre-adults, hobbies and pastimes are naturally indistinguishable from each other. Hobbies are nothing more than a variety of exploratory tasks or learning activities that allow free self-expression.

For teenagers, hobbies are intended to develop an occupational self where hobbies are ways of sharpening their skills based on inherent strengths and aptitudes, which allows them to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. Hobbies will ultimately be translated into occupational titles to be explored.
“To a certain extent, there is an overvaluation of seriousness in today’s society. Seriousness is in fact associated with personality, which is innate, and not a characteristic which is taught. It is a personality trait that is found in about 50 per cent of the general population.
“Seriousness and creativity are two sides of the same coin, in other words, seriousness stifles creativity for some children and vice versa. Our society and modern way of life have valued seriousness because we are engaged in this collective drive for productivity. Those who have not taken life so seriously and focused on cultivating their socio-emotional and tactical intelligences are in fact responsible for much of the creative fountains that cultures have enjoyed since the beginning of civilisation; mainly all artistic achievements, whether it be musical, visual, kinesthetic, innovative, literary, poetic, philosophical or architectural expression.”
The term “education”, according to him, is as broad as the term “society” and refers to different concepts depending on the reader. In his view, education falls into four main categories forming a pyramid. Starting from the narrowest sense of the word at the top of the pyramid and descending down to broader concepts, with main categories being the curriculum used by the schools, teaching methods implemented to deliver such a curriculum, various policies adopted by the Ministry of Education and the parent body, and the particular overarching social models schools are choosing to serve.
“In Oman today, some schools are using the factory model, others seem to be using the corporate model. Agrarian models are also being used in remote villages. When you speak about revamping any educational system we have to start from the broadest concept for any substantial change to take place at the base of the pyramid. This is often decided by the society as a whole or by particular communities, and requires whole communities to look at whether schools are truly serving the best interests of their society and whether the school model reflects the values and ideals of the community that it serves,” Haddad, who has travelled across the world delivering key note speeches at various educational conferences, said.
“The ‘right’ educational guidance is a concerted and institutionalised effort on the part of the family, teachers, and school administrations to educate both parents and students throughout their primary and secondary education.
“In my view, educational guidance should start before high school; when students are developing social awareness and are able to explore and discuss their strengths, learning styles, and what motivates them at home and in the classroom. With over 12,000 occupational titles, students seem to be aware of just a few professions, most to which they cannot fully relate.”
Haddad will be in Oman to launch the Sage Advice customised higher education consultancy services at the Chedi tomorrow. He will be accompanied by a number of consultants from the UK and US who have a collective six decades of experience in education.