3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV

Posted on 25 Jul 2023 by nivedita mukerjee

Issue #159, 25th July 2023

Am I the better version of me or a different version of me since my last birthday? (continuing on my reflections in my birthday month) are you? is your child? is the school you are working in better/different because of your contribution than it was before you came in? what would you call it – comparison, competition, growth? How do you ensure that you don’t push your child, student, or peer into a corner of loneliness, depression, and dejection by comparisons and rankings that we have brought onto ourselves as a very grotesque form of survivalism that as a life sciences teacher appears to have been hardwired in us perhaps from 12,000 years ago when we started our existence as homo-sapiens? So deep is it in our subconscious? Today it feels to me, a kind of violence in the system of education. Something which is meant for nurturing growth and creativity in humanity.

Is there a method of judging yourself/your student/your child/your team without ‘judging’? Can we not walk away from the prehistoric habit of ranking? here are some thoughts and strategies to foster a mindset of supporting growth of intelligence of various kinds in various students and children, for a society that is happy, healthy and, intelligent in more ways than one. Where we value growth of individuals and groups in many different ways, ways that are not primitive, but is inclusive even if at different levels and varying paces.

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Three images of the week:

Two Thoughts of the Week:

“Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition.”— John Smith

“If we continue to think and live as if we belong only to different cultures and different religions, with separate missions and goals, we will always be in self-defeating competition with each other. Once we realize we are all members of humanity, we will want to compete in the spirit of love.”— Muhammad Ali

One Video of the Week:

Education is supposed to prepare us for life. However, our schools, colleges, and universities are solely designed to teach us some skills. Concentrating on teaching knowledge, the education system is entirely consumed by “The Ranking Disorder”; everything is ranked to find the best, and to be the best.

This has made the postsecondary institutions into aggressive trade schools with no deep understanding of learning and intelligence. The cutthroat nature of competition culture and its relentless attempt to quantify, compare and rank students, professors, and universities breeds psychological disorders like stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depression that occasionally erupt into physical violence: student suicide.

The ranking disorder appears to be a “grotesque derailment” in the evolution of human beings, a phenomenon that permeates all aspects of our lives. The right way of education has to be free from ranking and competitiveness; it should emphasize the discovery and nurturing of intelligence by learning to be sensitive, inquisitive, and compassionate.

Hamid Tizhoosh is a professor at the University of Waterloo since 2001. He teaches algorithms and computer programming, artificial intelligence, and medical imaging.

Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.

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