Jun 02 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
YOUTH FOR CHANGE INDIA'S FUTURE
By Peter McLaughlin
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Educationists share their views on the way forward for the youth through innovative leadership
The word “leadership“ seems to be on everyone's lips these days, and young people have every right to be confused: the more we talk about it, the more frequently glamorous international conferences such as the World Economic Forum are held, the more university courses and seminars and lectures we give on governance, the more opportunities for what Nassim Taleb disparagingly but accurately calls `The International Association of Name Droppers' to meet and not solve the world's problems, the worse things seem to get.One of the most universal laments of the early 21st century is about the dearth of men and women who can and will lead us to a shared vision of a future in which the world's citizens can live in peace and prosperity in a healthy human habitat.
Can leadership be taught to young people? I think that there are some theoretical foundations that can be laid through formal study of leadership styles, case studies, history and politics, but the critical factor is experiential.
Interestingly, the National Knowledge Commission's Report of the Working Group on Engineering Education 2008 analysis of what constitutes excellence in professional training concludes: “Character is perhaps the most important component but characterbuilding processes are difficult to define and implement.“ Having defined the essential element in engineering, as in other fields, educational institutions have simply ignored the report and concentrated on the acquisition of hard skills, that is, technical knowledge. Lamentations about a paucity of critical soft skills remain largely unanswered in our obsession with, and pursuit of, higher and higher, and more and more meaningless, admission cut-offs and end-of-course grades.
It is important to remember at times like this that Abraham Lincoln, one of the most visionary and courageous leaders of the last few centuries, was an auto-didact who had no formal education -and that was at a time when Harvard, Yale and Princeton all existed. But he did have character. Related to this, research conducted by Michigan State University shows that children active outdoors for five to 10 hours a week have a stronger sense of selffulfilment and purpose than their less active peers, as well as better developed imaginations and greater creativity.
Not surprisingly, they also have an enhanced appreciation of natural beauty. So, if we want to produce great leaders who will save our human habitat and solve global problems, we need to get them outdoors and not simply incarcerate them in classrooms dragging through textbooks, followed by hours of sterile tuitions.
The crushing failure of schools and education systems around the world to provide an environment in which children's citizenship can flourish and their potential for leadership blossom, is the tragedy of our time. Yet most school websites will claim that their institution is producing “the leaders of tomorrow,“ or some such variation on the slogan. Despite all the well-intentioned words, few can or will deliver on that promise.
Sometimes I wonder if our schools across the globe are primarily about creating more discerning shoppers and tourists, or clerical drones, rather than active citizens and genuine leaders who will make a difference in the world. Betterinformed consumers who submit to the overwhelming brand conformity pumped out in the media are unlikely to have the courage and the conviction to overturn their superior lifestyles in pursuit of some higher and nobler goal.
A good starting point, be sides getting outside into the real world more often, would be for every senior schoolchild to read (preferably under a tree), Dipankar Gupta's seminal work, Revolution from Above, with his urgent cry for young people to join “an elite of calling,“ a youth infused with a sense of mission and capable of the self-sacrifice that will transform India's future.
(The author is headmaster of The Doon School)
Can leadership be taught to young people? I think that there are some theoretical foundations that can be laid through formal study of leadership styles, case studies, history and politics, but the critical factor is experiential.
Interestingly, the National Knowledge Commission's Report of the Working Group on Engineering Education 2008 analysis of what constitutes excellence in professional training concludes: “Character is perhaps the most important component but characterbuilding processes are difficult to define and implement.“ Having defined the essential element in engineering, as in other fields, educational institutions have simply ignored the report and concentrated on the acquisition of hard skills, that is, technical knowledge. Lamentations about a paucity of critical soft skills remain largely unanswered in our obsession with, and pursuit of, higher and higher, and more and more meaningless, admission cut-offs and end-of-course grades.
It is important to remember at times like this that Abraham Lincoln, one of the most visionary and courageous leaders of the last few centuries, was an auto-didact who had no formal education -and that was at a time when Harvard, Yale and Princeton all existed. But he did have character. Related to this, research conducted by Michigan State University shows that children active outdoors for five to 10 hours a week have a stronger sense of selffulfilment and purpose than their less active peers, as well as better developed imaginations and greater creativity.
Not surprisingly, they also have an enhanced appreciation of natural beauty. So, if we want to produce great leaders who will save our human habitat and solve global problems, we need to get them outdoors and not simply incarcerate them in classrooms dragging through textbooks, followed by hours of sterile tuitions.
The crushing failure of schools and education systems around the world to provide an environment in which children's citizenship can flourish and their potential for leadership blossom, is the tragedy of our time. Yet most school websites will claim that their institution is producing “the leaders of tomorrow,“ or some such variation on the slogan. Despite all the well-intentioned words, few can or will deliver on that promise.
Sometimes I wonder if our schools across the globe are primarily about creating more discerning shoppers and tourists, or clerical drones, rather than active citizens and genuine leaders who will make a difference in the world. Betterinformed consumers who submit to the overwhelming brand conformity pumped out in the media are unlikely to have the courage and the conviction to overturn their superior lifestyles in pursuit of some higher and nobler goal.
A good starting point, be sides getting outside into the real world more often, would be for every senior schoolchild to read (preferably under a tree), Dipankar Gupta's seminal work, Revolution from Above, with his urgent cry for young people to join “an elite of calling,“ a youth infused with a sense of mission and capable of the self-sacrifice that will transform India's future.
(The author is headmaster of The Doon School)
