RSS 2.0 FeedMarch/April 2009, Featured Articles
A Pledge to Impart Excellence
Of all the professional fields out there, the one that has a far more significant impact than any other on the future of our society is
education. Teachers are the ones that mold our children into self-sufficient adults, produce the next generation of doctors, lawyers, architects and engineers, and spark the ambition that leads toward becoming a future president. Teachers elicit the business acumen that produces the next generation of commercial wizards, and they nurture the creativity that results in masterpieces in literature, film, art, and music. And they are the ones that instill the sense of loyalty, honor and courage that comprise the qualities of soldiers and officers that defend our nation. Ironically, teachers also happen to be the most downtrodden, unappreciated, underpaid, overworked, and for all practical purposes, neglected facet of the professional community. The logic in this state of affairs is as baffling as it is unjust, and for some like Rania Tony Kassab, Managing Director of Rearden Educational and an American University of Beirut alumni of the Education Department, simply unacceptable.
Ten years ago, ahead of their own graduation ceremony, Kassab and fellow education student Jessy Tadros decided that change had to begin somewhere, and where better than at the very beginning of the journey as an educator? Recognizing that transformation must start from within, they persevered until they achieved their goal, and the Educator’s Pledge was born. Though only a few lines, it had a simple yet clear purpose: to instill in educators the gravity of the task with which they were being entrusted. “Teaching is a complex profession, guarded with ethics, devotion, values and commitment. This is when we thought of giving the education department at AUB a graduation ceremony in which graduating students give an oath in acknowledgment of their commitment and responsibility to this great profession,” said Kassab, who was the keynote speaker at the AUB graduation ceremony on June 25, 2008.
Pledges are used by doctors and lawyers to remind them of why they chose their professions, and “one has to remember why they chose teaching. We give them our children so it’s not enough that they have information to impart. They are in fact entrusted in making new citizenry,” said Khalil Bitar, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at AUB. Ten years on, the Pledge continues to instill a sense of pride in fresh education graduates, but the mastermind of the oath is unwilling to let her innovation grow stale. Kassab has introduced a cash award – aimed at injecting renewed enthusiasm into the profession – for student-teachers who excel.
Dr. Saouma Boujaoude, Chair of the Education department at AUB, says the pledge and the award are some of the ways to materialize dedication to education. “And it’s only the beginning because the commitment to the award is important to AUB and its students. Those are our values and it was done by our students.”
Each graduating year, an education student will win $1000 for his/her zest in meeting certain achievement criteria, but this year two students, Dima Zeidan and Maya Dayya split the award, both winning with distinction.
The winner is selected on the strength of three criteria: innovation, community service and an average of 75 and above in education courses. “The award candidates would need to demonstrate a high commitment to community service, identify and meet community needs and apply skills and knowledge to not only positively impact society but also help their careers in the process. In terms of creativity, these students developed new products such as portfolios, lesson plans, activities, presentations and workshops which have enhanced learning for students,” said Dr. Amal Bou Zeineddine, a full-time faculty member in AUB’s education department, adding: “The students that won fulfilled those criteria beyond our best expectations.” But Kassab is keen to ensure that the award continues to be a beacon for excellence, and as such is determined to raise an endowment of $25,000 which, without interruption, will each year supply the $1,000 needed for the award. “We are going to knock on every single door we know and contact educators, alumni, businessmen and women and any person who believes in and cares about the educational field,” she vowed.
While Kassab’s brainchild is a source of encouragement for graduating educators, her commitment to keeping it alive and fresh is a reminder to those graduates to keep from growing complacent, and to make sure that even after their formal education, they remain apprised of the evolution of their own students’ interests in order to best reach them.