VIDEO REFLECTION 1

Video Reflection

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Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

and Postsecondary Education

University of Northern Iowa

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the

Master of Arts in Education

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by

Austin Schmidt

American School of Kuwait

Kuwait City, Kuwait

February 21, 2018

--

Dr. Denise Schares

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As I watched Dr. Zhao's video, Cultivating Diverse Creative and Entrepreneurial

Talents, I kept finding myself making many connections that were surprisingly relevant

to my current place in life, both geographically and career wise. I felt as though my

current location in the world played a big factor into which points I found to be the most

meaningful, as they dealt with some cultural norms that are at odds with many of the

things Dr. Zhao encouraged and mentioned.

There were two short quotes from the video that made me pause and think “that is

so my country.” The first of these quotes was “UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, have too

much oil, so they don’t study,” the second of these quotes is “you (education) get rid of

Lady Gaga.” I think both of these quotes are scarily present both at my school, and many

other schools in my area. About seventy percent of my class as a whole has connections

to oil money. This poses a huge concern to me as a teacher for two reasons, and these

reasons are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. From what I have observed, the

children either lack motivation in school because they are already aware that their life is

set for them. They will grow up, go to university, and then inherit an oil field. On the flip

side, they find their passion in the arts, or sport, but their parents quickly squash these

dreams because they want their child to enter their field of work. In this case the children

no longer care about school, again causing a loss of motivation. As a teacher one of my

biggest struggles I have been attempting to overcome is how to motivate the students

when a lack of motivation has almost become a cultural norm.

The next point from the video that really struck a chord with me was the list of

entrepreneurial qualities that Dr. Zhao mentioned. Of the seven qualities, I had a difficult

time trying to narrow down which ones would be the most important to place an
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emphasis on in schools, and I could not do it. They all seem necessary; no matter what

field the children will enter later in their lives. I was able to whittle the list down to which

qualities need the most nurturing at my current school, and in my classroom. The

qualities of passion, creativity, and uniqueness are the three that I wish were nurtured

more consistently. I feel as though there are certain blocks of time in the day when these

qualities are fostered. It seems outside of art class, creativity is not encouraged, and

outside of music or theatre, passion is ignored. The most neglected quality is uniqueness.

As a whole school, beginning from the high school, the final goal is for the students to

get accepted to a good university in the United Kingdom, or America. With that goal in

mind, the school has set up a curriculum that trickles down to the Elementary School

where the final goal is university, and only university. This leaves little space for a child

to be fully able to express themselves or any way other than on paper.

As a leader, this poses a tricky position, while it is incredibly important to prepare

students for the future; we are currently only preparing students who wish to follow one

certain career path. Beyond that, the career path we are preparing them for may not be a

field that exists when my current grade twos are entering the workforce. I think it is

important to go back to the drawing board, and as Dr. Zhao suggested, to cater the

curriculum to the students and their interests, and their passions. It is more than possible

to continue to teach the prescribed standards, while nurturing the entrepreneurial qualities

that will help all students to succeed.

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Reference

Zhao, Y. (2012, August). Cultivating diverse, creative, and entrepreneurial talents

[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PALkk97L5Vg