Baale canvasses hybrid teaching methodology for pupils

At the break-neck speed which knowledge acquisition is moving, there is the compelling need for the deployment of a hybrid teaching methodology, which will not only expose, but also set Nigerian youths on the path to contemporary learning.

This is the view of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business School Netherlands (Nigeria) and Regional Director of USA-based Centre for Management and Organisational Effectiveness (CMOE) for countries in Middle East and Africa, Mr. Lere Baale, who was speaking at the maiden edition of The Teachers Seminar, in Lagos State.

According to Baale, “As teachers, if you are going to be relevant, you can’t teach today’s children the way we were taught years ago. I was taught years ago with the cane; I was taught not to ask questions, and I was told that I was too inquisitive. And when somebody is too inquisitive, they call them in Yorubaland, Amebo or Olofofo. But if kids are more inquisitive, they learn more, they ask more questions, and they get to know more. Now as teachers, for us to be able to teach them better, we have to learn how to ask questions. The Internet has made it possible for many to learn so many things.”

The CEO, who is of the opinion that the best form of teaching is a hybrid that combines bits of questioning, facilitating, lecturing, and a little bit of practice, added that, “As teachers, most times we are concerned about teaching alone. Teaching is not the most important thing. What is most important is how our students can learn better. The greatest news is not in self-development, but what we are able to develop in other people.”

He told the participants, “As teachers, you have a calling to teach your students, and that calling means that every single student has a different methodology of learning. Some learn by cramming, some you have to be hard on them to teach them. But you cannot use the same methodology for everyone.”

At the event, which was meant to chart the way forward for constructive education, proprietress of Chairos School, Mrs. Boumogha Sagay, said parents, teachers, governments at all levels as well as other relevant stakeholders have a responsibility to share, care and work together towards making the world a better place. “This is the essence of The Teachers Seminar,” she said.

Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, who chaired the summit in echoing the saying of Nelson Mandela that education was the most powerful weapon that one can use to change the world, stressed that the lack of it can destroy a people.

Ighodalo, who said what transforms the world remains the ability of people to find out new things, develop new knowledge and to develop more new things, enjoined teachers not to be discouraged saying, “I know it can be a bit discouraging because of government’s attitude towards education and towards knowledge, but they all know now that they are making a big mistake because without knowledge nobody and no nation can make progress,” he remarked.