Given Dec. 19, 2008.
Good afternoon.
Today is a special day for you: Miami students, parents, family and friends, and colleagues -- and I am honored to be a part of it. I am delighted to be here among all of you celebrating this wonderful moment, this transition from one exciting phase of your life to another even more exciting.
I have been attending Commencements for many years now and it is always fun to participate in this exciting celebration of seeing our students graduate and getting ready for the “Business World.” By the way, I do not like the term, “The Real World,” as if the University is a theme park fantasy of unreal rides of existence – I bet the money you paid here was real? The loans, scholarships, the classes, endless reports and exams, teachers, friends, etc. were all real, right?
In the Next 10-15 min. I will be sharing with you some thoughts and reflections on the joys of teaching and learning, and the cultivation of happiness in our lives. These are themes dear to my heart and I hope you will find them interesting and intellectually stimulating.
First let me talk about the joys of teaching and learning that I discovered throughout my teaching career. Teaching is a very exciting and rewarding profession. To me, teaching is not just a job it is doing something that I really love to do – one is never bored when she or he is engaged in a daily dynamic and fun environment; and getting paid for doing something that you really love to do is a wonderful bonus. And I hope you will always remember that throughout your professional career.
To me, one aspect of teaching that makes it so compelling and rewarding is you, the students! You enrich this learning environment, you make it dynamic and exciting, and you definitely leave memorable “footprints” in our hearts! I borrowed this sentiment from a remarkable first-lady of the past century: Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. She described in a clear voice how people impact one another by saying that some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints in our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.
And this is the way I feel exactly about you, our students and I hope you do feel the same about us!
Teaching, to me, is both an art and a science. It is about intuition and logic, experience and abstract, and observation and experimentation. My teaching philosophy includes four main elements:
- Creating an effective learning environment in the classroom that allows my students to learn how to learn on their own;
- Motivating my students to learn and interact actively in this environment;
- Developing and using varied tools to evaluate student outcomes, which are used to assess and adjust the learning environment, and
- To always have fun and learn something new!
In my opinion, the last adage is key, not only to teaching, but also to almost anything that one does in life! Of course there are experiences that one really do not have fun; going to a funeral, for example! In general, we don’t have fun in funerals, although in some cultures, they learned to have fun by turning part of the occasion into celebration of life and renewal, and cherishing the memories of the deceased.
I knew, growing up in Cairo, Egypt, in the 1950s that I would be a teacher. I knew that since I was 6 years old watching my father and other wonderful teachers at school working with students. My father was a business professor and seeing him interact with his students and his continuous talk about teaching was exciting and stimulating for me.
At school and throughout my education, I was privileged to interact with some superb teachers who not only taught me about the facts of science, literature, history, and many other amazing subjects, but also taught me about being a responsible citizen, about being an ethical person, about accountability and about giving back something to my community and society. They definitely left memorable “footprints” in my heart!
When I was about 13 years old, one special history/art teacher taught us many of these concepts and others. This man brought history to life: when he took the class to the Cairo Museum and spent hours telling us about Ancient Egyptians, their civilization, art and religion, and made fascinating connections to many subjects, such as art, culture, science, math, and engineering. He was one of the first teachers, in my life, to make us think critically about what we observe and study, and most importantly to understand the context of its background and artwork.
In another occasion, he demonstrated to us his idea of having fun while learning! He took us on a field trip to the Giza Pyramids, sat us in front of the Cheops Pyramid, the biggest of the three and said, “Now, I want you to come up with ideas and sketches of how Ancient Egyptians might have built those pyramids!” He also indicated that he expects us to record our reflections on the day and submit to him in an essay form in few days! To us, 13 years old, that was definitely not the fun that we were promised! We thought we are escaping school for a day and we will be playing our hearts out in the open area of the pyramids – but to him fun was an integral part of learning, something that took me years to comprehend and then use in my own teaching and with my students.
This teacher, along with others, especially my parents, taught me also that joy and happiness come to those who are really enjoying what they are doing – who are passionate about learning, about their work, and about giving back!
Those were some of the lessons that I carried with me over the years – and looking back at my over 30 years of experience in teaching I can honestly say it has been wonderful. It has been lots of fun!
There is a very subtle and essential message in what I discussed, which is the idea of “cultivating happiness in one’s life.”
I was reminded of this message few months ago when I read a powerful and moving message from Alice Walker, the author of the “Color Purple,” to then Senator and now President elect, Obama!
In the 2nd paragraph of this message she reminded him of the following: A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. ... We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead.
What Mrs. Walker is talking about is the need for one to learn to balance among his or her needs and those of the work place. We simply cannot ignore the needs of our inner voices, the things that bring joy to our lives, to satisfy the demands of the business world because if we do, we will be transformed into “juiceless” beings! Many times, we do forget that the simple act of connecting and keeping in touch with our families, loved ones, and yes, even our favorite teacher, brings with it an enormous sense of satisfaction that cannot be measured by the rise and fall of stocks!
Cultivating happiness in our lives is also realized by balancing among our needs and those of others! Remember, you (the students in this audience) are, “privileged,” to be part of an elite group of citizens who are the future leaders of this world in Business, Education, Science, Mathematics, Humanities, Social Science, Fine Arts, and Engineering with all their different fields of specializations – but privileges come with a price, which is your responsibility to your community, society, and to those who are less fortunate! The idea of giving back without asking for a price! Thus, as you search for your place and niche in the work place, and as you continue to write the narrative of your own story, don’t forget to cultivate happiness wherever you go and to those who need it!
Finally, cultivating happiness in one’s life should not supersede ethics! Thus, as you confront the challenges of the business world, don’t forget ethics, which relate not to how people actually treat each other but how they ought to treat each other! For example, how to balance social responsibility and shareholder interest?” “How to confront social injustice while working in foreign countries?” “How to protect the safety, health, and welfare of society while applying, on the job, the knowledge you learned at Miami?” and “How to reconcile the needs of the environment and the realities of everyday life?” – These are not simple problems and they will come with no manuals or textbook’s solution! To confront and deal with it all, you need to arm yourself with the “right thing to do” ethical principles, with your professional society code of ethics guidelines, and with a sound value system that respect and value all!
The 21st century’s problems are complex and intertwined; they need clear understanding of context and critical thinking, they need integration of knowledge of many fields, teamwork, and communication – many of these skills you have learned and experienced at Miami but you need to continue your learning, education, and building on each and everyone of them.
At Miami, you have been a successful citizen and we are certain that you will continue to be a successful citizen not only of your society but also the global village!
And to conclude, and on behalf of our faculty and staff and other students, I want to thank you for four wonderful years. We are truly proud of what you have accomplished so far, and of what you will be accomplishing in the future. In few hours, you will be leaving Oxford but your “footprints” will stay always in our hearts. We love you. Don’t forget us and I know, we won’t forget you; stay in touch and remember to always have fun and to learn something new in whatever you are doing, and to cultivate happiness in your life and others!
Good Luck and thank you again for inviting me to be part of this celebration.