Abbas Husain, Director, Teachers’ Development Centre has been involved in teaching and training teachers for more then two decades. His extensive teaching experience and the training he has received as well as conducted, makes him an expert on teaching and learning methodologies. His focus has been on training teachers since he feels that it is the most effective way to enhance the learning process of students.

What made you enter the field of teaching? And from a university professor, how did you come about to training teachers?
I belonged to a middle class family and I did not have a role model of teaching in the family. None of my father’s side of the family or my mother’s side of the family went into teaching. So it is sometimes hard to explain where this impulse came from, but I knew at the age of nine thatt I wanted to be a university professor. And in that sense I have been singularly focused in getting all the skills that I would need to make me a university professor, and keeping away from all the things that would take me away from becoming one. So that single minded focus has guided me all my life.

As far as training teachers is concerned, I benefited from a University’s Grants Commission Diploma course that was called ‘Teaching English as an International Language’, in 1983. This was run by the Ministry of Education, Allama Iqbal University and the University of Manchester. The course opened up my mind to what can be done with teachers so that they become ‘effective teachers’ and learning from foreign professors as well as our own stalwarts, was an excellent experience. It brought about a major change in my perception. As a result of that course and my performance in it, I earned a British Council Scholarship to go to Manchester for a year. So I have an M Ed. in English as a foreign language. Of course that gave me a whole bag of tools and strategies of what to do. So when I came back from Manchester in 1986, I realized that I can teach students all I want but I won’t change the education scenario of the country. It is only when I train teachers that each teacher will go on to teach 30 students and there will be a multiplier effect. Once a penny dropped into that slot, I decided to move on to full time teacher training.

So in light of all these educational development programs that you have attended and training workshops you have conducted for various organisations in Pakistan, how would you say adult learning is different from the way children learn?
There are categorical differences. Adult learning and children learning are two different dynamics. I believe that very many teacher trainers are not effective when they infantilize teachers. You can say to a little child “learn” this it will do you good’ - you can not do that to an adult. An adult needs to be shown the relevance of things straight away. Adults have a set of habits, mindsets, experiences and prejudices. These are not a burden for a trainer but a resource to tap into. By taking care of adult learners’ needs, we can enhance their learning capabilities.

Do you honestly believe that learning is a life long process?
I believe that as we grow older, (because of our experiences) we create clustered networks of ideas. We have an increasing impatience with ‘smooth’ talk. We understand the complexities of life and we know that things are not simple. That cynicism others consider as an aversion to learning. That is not true. That is actually an aversion to the hocus-pocus passed off as learning. True learning continues. I believe that learning is also connected to personality types. I have met 65 year olds that are more open to learning than 29 year olds. Curiosity as a ‘state’ and ‘trait’ are very different things. Curiosity for a momentary thing is a state, but a relentless quest for asking questions and a desire to know, is a trait. I believe that people with ‘trait curiosity’ will remain young in their approach to learning forever. Sadly parts of our education system turns off this trait very early. It needs to be fostered in schools, and if it’s switched off there, we lose the child’s approach to learning as a person.