Going off-script

Last week, I had the opportunity to work alongside nearly two dozen educators, to think about how to discuss issues of forced displacement (i.e. challenges faced by refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless communities) in the classroom. Some teachers taught high school and others were elementary school teachers. Some taught history and social studies, and some taught biology and mathematics. The workshop was organised by the Center on Forced Displacement, where I am privileged to work.

The issue of forced displacement is both global and local. There are communities all across the world, and close to where we live, that have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, persecution and climate change. The teachers - who were inspiring, thoughtful and deeply committed to learning - discussed how they currently deal with the issue, and the myriad challenges that they face. Of course, we all recognised that many communities have been displaced due to actions of the US government (and its allies), and in an increasingly unwelcoming and polarised world, they find little support in the country and outside. Questions like how to talk about human migration, the role of the government in causing forced displacement, the challenges faced by the people on the move, and right texts for the right age group were at the centre of our conversation. I learned a lot from people who, like their peers in teaching all across the world, are overworked and underpaid. Yet, their dignity, commitment and sense of purpose is infectious. I also learned about how they are eager to innovate and incorporate what is happening all around them to help their students learn, reflect and navigate a complex world.

At the same time, I could not help but think about the necessity of space to innovate and reflect. Many teachers in Pakistan are just as committed, dedicated and concerned about the intellectual well-being of their students as their peers in any other part of the world. I had many who genuinely cared about my intellectual development and were instrumental in making the person I am. Yet, I also know that they are increasingly constrained by a system that is designed with a purpose that is antithetical to the spirit of inquiry and learning. Much has been said and written in the past about the lack of critical thinking skills in our students, or thinking beyond what is in a stale and dated textbook - but we often ignore the stifling environment and constraints on our teachers.

It is not to say that our teachers are beyond criticism - far from it. Many teachers are unqualified and have no interest in developing intellectual skills in their students. But there are others, who do care, and they are boxed in by a system that rewards uninspiring uniformity. Let us do a thought experiment to illustrate this point.

Imagine a teacher (someone who teaches high school students at a public school) who wants to talk about the history of refugees in the country or statelessness among Bangla speaking community, what intellectual space does that teacher have to talk about this issue? What texts can that teacher assign and stay out of trouble? What incentive does that teacher have to talk about the pressing issues that the students may see all around them anyway? It is not hard to imagine that most would take the path of least risk, and understandably so.

Cultivating a society where students think critically is not simply about giving them open-ended questions, or asking them to solve math problems that are not in their textbooks. It is also important for students to look at the world around them, both locally and globally, and reflect on the inequities and injustice and think deeply about them. This is not going to happen unless we empower the teachers and enable them to go off-script from what the textbook board has prescribed.