The hardest lessons one learns in life often come from outside lecture halls. While societies rightly commend school tutors, many of the most influential teachers in our lives don’t stand in front of a classroom.
In fact, for 30 million out-of-school children in the Middle East and North Africa – that’s one in three children in the region – values and attitudes often come from the home or community.
In everyone’s life, there tends to be a diverse network of teachers: mentors, colleagues, friends, family, and strangers who share their wisdom in ways that formal education cannot.
Throughout my life, I have been reminded that some of the most powerful lessons are learnt outside conventional settings. My first teacher was my late father. I grew up in a home with no running water, no electricity, and at a time when radios and newspapers were banned. Information about the wider world was limited, and my curiosity often went unquenched. Yet, instead of shying away from asking questions for fear of being mocked, I was taught to ask questions and to keep asking them until I understood the answers.
I learnt early on that curiosity is a strength, and that in times of change or uncertainty it can be a superpower. Thinking of learning as a source of energy has helped me greatly in my career and it has been continually reinforced.
While serving in the Royal Air Force of Oman, I worked with a commander who following a stroke lost the ability to read. This brought his life to a standstill. But instead of accepting his new circumstances, he hired a tutor and over four months, against the odds, he learnt to read again. His determination and resilience stayed with me.
Then there was a commander who had a significant influence on my formative air force days. He would often call me into his office so that I could listen in on his conversations. Without realising it at the time, these hours turned out to be some of the most crucial in my career.
It was not so much about the technical information I learnt – on operations, preparations, equipment or training – it was more about how this information was used effectively. Every conversation was a tour de force in making decisions on highly complex matters, where information could be scant or contentious.
But I also learnt that responsibility in leadership goes beyond decision-making under pressure; it’s about ownership. One important lesson I picked up from a colleague was that being humble in leadership is as critical as being authoritative or decisive.
Despite his position and schedule, he would never keep people waiting and he refused to be late for an aircraft’s departure time. This modesty commanded a great deal of respect, as did his insistence on shouldering responsibility for everyone in the air force. If a member of the force made a mistake, he ensured that he, as the commander, was answerable.
These experiences have shown me that mentors can appear in many forms, and that we are often learning even when we do not realise it. I have been fortunate to have been exposed to some truly unique and inspiring tutors in my career. Yet perhaps the most consistent teacher we have is ourselves. Our own experiences, successes, and setbacks can push us to grow in ways a textbook alone cannot.
That was what I discovered very quickly when I left my career in the air force to enroll in university. Walking into my first classroom after retiring from the military, I was surrounded by classmates half my age.
In some respects, it was as daunting as strapping into the cockpit of a jet fighter for the first time. I was embarking on a completely new chapter and had to build an entirely new knowledge base. At the time, I leant into my earliest piece of advice – to be unashamed of asking questions until I understood all the answers.
As I discovered when jumping from an established career to a university degree, for many things in life, there is no syllabus. And for some people, including many millions of children in the Middle East, sometimes there isn’t even the opportunity of a formal education.
Teaching and learning take many forms in our lives. Whether through family, friends, colleagues, or our own experiences, these lessons shape us in profound ways.
Sometimes, the most powerful classes happen far from any classroom.
