Re-broadcasted Episode 28: Leading and Learning With Empathy and Grit: An Interview With Dr. Emad Rahim

In a concentration camp in the killing fields of Cambodia, a baby boy was born in 1978. As a new life came into the world, another one departed; the baby boy’s father was also executed there, and the child’s older brother died from starvation and illness. 

Eventually, that little boy escaped the concentration camp and ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand. Two years later, he was sponsored to leave for America. You would think that the story would end there and he would live happily ever after. But once in America, they had nothing, just the clothes on their backs, and they were to live in Brooklyn NY in the ‘80s; a far cry from what it is today. 

Back then, at the height of the crack epidemic, daily life consisted of riots, police brutality, and gang violence.

Turning point

The turning point came when the little boy—now Dr. Emad Rahim—was shot in the leg and a community made up of a mix of ethnic groups saved his life.

He would forever remember their kindness towards him, and how it impacted his future. 

Poverty, an abusive step-father, homelessness, street violence, and a learning disability were all stacked up against him, but the empathy of his college professor and a few other key players were the great influencers of who he was to become. 

Power of empathy in education

It was through his own experience that he learned the power of empathy in education. This does not only include an empathetic attitude, but empathy for learning styles and how to accommodate them so that students can excel.

In the case of Dr. Rahim, after years of struggling with learning due to undiagnosed dyslexia, the efforts of an empathetic professor taught him that, “I can learn. I just learn differently."

Shouldn’t all students be given that opportunity, no matter their learning style?

With the professor's help, he became an Honours student, earning two doctorates and becoming the Dean at multiple universities. Today, Dr. Emad Rahim is an award-winning author, educator, and entrepreneur. He currently serves at Biola University and the Jack Welsh Management Institute. He also co-authored the book, Leading Through Diversity: Transforming Managers Into Effective Leaders. 

In a recent Illuminate Higher Education podcast, Kiran Kodithala, CEO of N2N Services, interviewed Dr. Emad Rahim.

What drives you?

In the beginning, I was just trying to survive and navigate the problems. 

Later on in life, I had a lot of good people on my side that pushed me, motivated me, inspired me, and refused to give up on me. It provided me with better vision and clarity. 

And that's what allowed me to really move forward. The resilience and grit that pushed me were nothing that I learned in school—it was something that is inside all of us. It's just that much of the time, many of us don't know how to use it. I figured that out in my late teens, together with the understanding that in order for me to be successful, I couldn't do it alone.

What do students need?

Empathy is something that is very important for teachers to have towards their students and the curriculum. The teacher should figure out a way to balance education with empathy. It needs to be less of a lecture-style environment and more of a mentor-coaching environment. That's how you help students become successful. 

When it comes to academia, it’s not only about IQ. Rather, the IQ blossoms because of all the resources and attention a student may get outside of the classroom, not particularly from what's in the classroom. 

In this case, these are students that have access to the best tutors, the best mentors, and the best programs that their parents and environment provided them outside of school. 

So in higher education, we have to look at this as an opportunity to recreate the curriculum and the resources that are provided to students. Successful students are those who are critical thinkers; the problem solvers.

This can’t come from a traditional lecture style that you put online, or on campus, so we need to figure out how to change the curriculum to a problem-based learning environment with students learning how to solve problems. That's what Google is looking for; that's what Tesla is looking for. They're looking for problem solvers, critical thinking skills, and analytical skills. More classes need to create an aesthetic learning environment, where students really learn to understand how to solve real-world problems using their critical thinking skills, and having access to resources that create meaningful solutions.

How to move from passive learning to active learning

If a college, for instance, wants to put a course online, they can’t think that taking the syllabus, and just putting it online will suffice. Online learning can be good as long as it’s engaging and more interactive.

Provide more visual aid. You don't have to recreate the wheel, you just have to facilitate it. Although you may be an educator, you also need to become a facilitator. So while you facilitate the curriculum, you need to provide some coordination, some mentorship, some support, some coaching. Students need more hands-on individualized learning versus standing in front of a podium. 

Students want your expertise, but they can't just listen to it online. 

They have to actually experience the learning, so give them assignments that allow them to practice what they learn. Then allow an opportunity for them to reflect.

What is the future of education?

I was at a trade show before Covid. When you entered, they used identity AI technology to identify your learning style. Based on that, the entire online space changed for each person.

So you and I could be in the same classroom. But the look and feel of the online class looks totally different just because of how the AI technology has identified you. The tools change, and the layout is optimized for your learning style. For kinesthetic learners, for instance, the environment will not be overstimulated and the tabs would be in a certain position. If the software picks up that you’re struggling on something, and I'm taking a little bit longer on question six, then another tool shows up. And this one provides notes. It does not give the answer, just provides some help. 

More and more universities are going to implement technology like this, and foundations will help to create grants and funding opportunities to take these types of platforms to the next level and make them more available for every student. The problem is that not every student has access to an internet connection.

For more in-depth information, listen to the full podcast here.

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This episode is brought to you by N2N’s Illuminate App, The iPaaS for Higher Education.

About N2N Services

Founded in 2010, N2N is committed to serving educational institutions and helping them figure out how to serve their students, faculty, and staff using the most innovative technologies and solutions available in the marketplace. Over the last decade, N2N has served over 300 academic institutions and enabled their student success journeys.

N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application integration and strategic advisory services for higher education, At N2N, we are committed to providing the highest quality solutions and collaboratively building student-centric solutions.

Learn more at https://illuminateapp.com/web/higher-education.

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