[LAP] Some reflections on ICLAP2019

[Ahmar Mahboob]

Thank you ICLAP and GCUF for inviting us to participate in the 5th ICLAP. We enjoyed our interactions with the people at the event and learned a lot from each one of them.



At the same time, we also witnessed how and why our educational institutions are unable to address many of the problems we experience across the country.



Let me share one (of many) examples:



During lunch on the Day 1 of the conference, Mona and I chose not to stay in the VIP reserved-area, but instead chat, eat, and mingle with the participants. I went to one of the tables to get some food. The dish was freshly refilled with steaming yummy chicken biryani. Two people took the serving spoons and fished out all the pieces of chicken from the serving dish. Once they had served themselves, they saw that I was waiting in line. Embarrassed (even though I did not say anything), they immediately offered their plates to me, which I of course declined. When I shared this anecdote with Mona, she said that she had experienced something very similar in another section of the dining hall.



In reflecting on these incidences, we realised that the responsibility here lied with the VIP culture practiced in educational institutions.



If the teachers, invited guests, presenters, and students were sharing the same tables, things would have been different for at least two reasons:



1. The students/presenters would have seen that everyone is equal and we all share; as opposed to the culture of giving the best to the VIPs. [The students/presenters were essentially mirroring the VIP culture that they experience(d) and were giving themselves the best without much/any consideration for others.]



2. In the absence of authority (in this case, teachers), others felt that they could do and get away with anything. [Again, something that they experience in many of the other aspects of their everyday life.]



By replicating the VIP culture seen elsewhere in Pakistan, the educational institutions become a source of reinforcing hierarchies and self-centred practices in the country.



Instead of modelling inclusivity and sharing, many of the current practices of our teachers/academia show that it is OK to privilege oneself (or an exclusive group of people) at the cost of others.



How can educators bring about a change in society, if they fail to change themselves?



Ahmar

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