Creating the students of tomorrow, today

Beaconhouse to host fifth SOT Education and Cultural Festival from Nov 28 to 29 at Beach Luxury Hotel

KARACHI:

Schools and society have always coexisted in a symbiotic relationship, feeding off one another, and in a healthy situation, helping each other evolve and grow. Recent and rapid advancements in technology combined with geopolitical and economic insecurity have the potential to have long-term repercussions for young children. Beaconhouse has been exploring the effects of these phenomena and how to leverage changing times to best educate and prepare young minds for a constantly evolving world through its School of Tomorrow (SOT) conferences, the first of which was held in 2000 under the tagline of ‘Towards 2035’.

According to Kasim Kasuri, CEO Beaconhouse School System and the man behind the SOT conference series, “Schools are a reflection of the society, and the society is changing.” He adds, “Some of this change is good, and some is not. We want to explore how external forces are driving this change, and how to channelise it in the best possible direction for the future of our children.”

The SOT Education and Cultural Festival 2015 is a public, free-for-all event. Not only does it mark 40 years of educational services that the Beaconhouse School System has provided to Pakistan, but also offers Karachiites with the opportunity to experience panel discussions, talks, workshops and exhibits on education, sports, art, technology, science, media and robotics. The festival will also feature a multitude of entertaining events, including a concert, short film festival and dastaangoi.

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Dr David Cole and Dr Roger Schank among international speakers taking part in the festival

Originally planned as a series of events in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, it will now only be held in Karachi from November 28 to 29, while the ones in Lahore and Islamabad are slated to take place early next year. Over 125 educationists, thought leaders, visionaries and experts on education, media, science and technology, arts and culture, along with performers from across the globe, have been invited to the event to be a part of panel discussions, present keynote speeches, conduct workshops, presentations and exhibits.

Notable guests include Dr Roger Schank, founder of non-profit organisation Socratic Arts and Engines for Education, and Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University. Schank has long been a supporter of the SOT conference series, having participated in its 2000 and 2005 instalments as a keynote speaker. He is a visionary in artificial intelligence, learning theory, cognitive science and the building of virtual learning environments. His NGO is dedicated to designing and building new curricula for primary and secondary schools.

Dr David Cole, associate professor at the University of Western Sydney and leader of the Globalisation theme in the Centre for Educational Research, is also one of the keynote speakers. Cole’s address will explore the connections between globalisation and the global economic crises, and their influences on education. The talk will also focus on the ways education can survive in the future as a fundamental mode of becoming or a change hypothesis —  and that allows it to sidestep a downward slide into negative functioning of global capitalist rhythms.

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Other international speakers include Alan Kay, known for his pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface design, Carl Rogers, founder of Energizer Olson, Dr Kiran Seth, professor at ITT Delhi and founder of SPIC MACAY, among others.

Many local speakers and presenters will also participate in the conference. Leading sports personalities including Sana Mir, captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, Younis Khan, former captain of the national cricket team, Islahuddin Siddiqui, former Olympian and field hockey player, and Hajra Khan, captain of  the national women’s football team, will discuss whether sports can be a career or not, with Rishad Mahmood.

To include a laser harp, tinker studio and a robotic arm

Actor-social activist Nadia Jamil and clinical psychologist Dr Fareeha Piranha will discuss ‘What your child is not telling you’, while Norbert Almeida, security and crisis manager at P&G, will give a presentation on ‘Keeping your child digitally safe’.

Other sessions focus on topics, such as whether or not de-weaponisation is essential following the Peshawar school massacre of December 2014, and merits of the Cybercrime bill. Urdu and its future is also a hot topic at the festival, with many sessions dedicated to it. Ameena Sayyid, MD Oxford University Press and founder of the Karachi Literature Festival, will be a part of the panel discussion titled ‘Urdu mar rahi hai’.

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The impact of dubbed cartoons on language development and culture will be debated upon in the section ‘Doremon, Dubbed Cartoons and Our Children: Cultural Invasion Redefined’. Classical dancer Sheema Kirmani will be on the panel discussing the ‘Forgotten National Language’. Other panelists include Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, Salima Hashmi, Rashid Rana, and Omair Rana.

Art and science will lie at the heart of the festival, with full-day interactive exhibits created by artists and students from Beaconhouse schools and Beaconhouse National University School of Visual Arts and Design. Labelled ‘FULL STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Media), the exhibit will include a laser harp, tinker studio and a robotic arm, among other things.

Evening entertainment is as varied as the morning and afternoon events. Day one will conclude with a theatre performance and dastaangoi, while day two will end with a comedy performance by Sanjay Ranjoura, a dramatic reading of Ismat Chughtai’s works, short film screenings, and a concert by Ali Azmat.

Most festivals held in Pakistan are exclusive in nature but SOT 2015 will focus on a string of diverse areas, including arts and culture, literature and education. The basic idea behind the event is to understand how external forces are interlinked and shape societies in the 21st century and what new directions can be taken to shape the future of schools and education by keeping geopolitics, media, digital technologies, and arts and culture in mind. For further details, please visit schooloftomorrow.beaconhouse.net.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2015.

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