Open Letter to ASUU & ASUP (3):
Books! Books!! Books!!!
“Mr O. J.,” said Just Man and Just Woman, “please tell us a bit more about this your theory of printing and publishing.”
“The first thing to understand,” I began, “is that reading has changed . . .”
“And yet it has stayed the same,” said JMan.
“People may read fewer printed books,” said JWoman, “but they read more phone texts, blogs, twits . . .”
“Young people especially,” said JMan, “they eat, drink, play and virtually sleep with their laptops, tablets and smartphones.”
“There you go! You’re both finally awake! Your brains were not really dead, just in a deep slumber. Thank you!”
“But please tell us about printing and publishing.”
“Printing and publishing implies all of these new media devices. Today there are newspapers in print/hard copy as well as online. Books today similarly exist in print and online (eBooks). Take your choice—or rather, embrace both. If you can’t catch the young in print, catch them online.”
A pregnant pause. Thinking.
“I see what you mean. The vehicle is there; but where is the material?”
“Yes, how to get to them is clear—but what are you getting to them? Where do we the teachers come in?”
“Come on, now, think!”
“I think . . . instead of photocopying and selling to them, we can use email . . .”
“Or put it on a website.”
“Now you’re thinking. But you can do better than that.”
“Come to think of it, I hear that some universities abroad organize a network of micro-websites in which each professor displays each of the courses he/she is teaching each term or semester. . . .”
“Exactly. That’s one of several variants—where the 19th century has met and merged with the 21st century. You can work out the details. But these digital developments are governed by two critical principles. First, the lecturer or professor is passionately devoted to teaching, to the upbringing of the youth, to the onward progress or transformation of his/her society, to making his/her contribution to that transformation.”
“Well and good.”
“Lecturers and professors reap moderate financial rewards: decent salary and benefits that put them and their families in the middle class, not in the upper class of the wealthy. Their main reward is the satisfaction of transmitting knowledge, of inculcating values, of making a lasting and positive impact on their students, and, through them, on the future of their country and of the world—an impact that keeps working long after they are dead and gone.”
“Good enough.”
“The second critical principle is that whatever material is reproduced on the micro-website is with the permission of the author or holder of copyright. The only materials used without permission are materials that are “in the public domain”—that is, materials that never were or no longer are under copyright.”
“Does it mean that teachers in those countries have taken a vow of poverty, as medieval European monks were said to do?”
“Not a vow of poverty but a vow not to pursue wealth as if it was the highest or only good.”
“Are you saying that teachers here in Naija should leave the pursuit of wealth, whether by honest application of brains and brawn or by bribery, embezzlement or 419, entirely to businessmen and politicians?”
“I’m saying that every human being has to make a choice what path to pursue in his/her 40 to 80 years of life on earth, and then should steadfastly pursue it. Whatever you are, whether by conscious choice or striving, or by inclination or talent, predestination or divine calling—whatever you are by religious, cultural or personal belief—be true to that self. Don’t be a square peg itching to fit into a round hole, or a small finger wishing it were a thumb.”
“Are you saying that change is not possible or desirable? We come into the world with a certain character, personality and talents. But surely we can remake or transform ourselves, at least improve on what we have.”
“Well, yes, we can improve—but usually minimally. Even the capacity or ability to change is itself quite limited. Some have it more than others. As far as I can see, the vast majority of humanity live and die basically in the same limited circle in which they find themselves, despite all the exhortations by preachers and “life coaching” by motivational speakers. Learning, of course, is real; but transformation or total make-over is rare. . . .”
- To be continued
Onwuchekwa Jemie