Curriculum of the future: Why literature is crucial to moulding good leaders

Part 1: If you read today, you will lead tomorrow

Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges’ famous words, “I always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library”, capture the importance of reading as essential to being human. And to be human means to have a story, and as social creatures, we are drawn to each other’s stories.

Communities, in which we share stories, have evolved from tribes and local neighbourhoods to become global, due to social media.

Facebook now has over three billion users, YouTube has nearly 2.5 billion users, and Instagram and WhatsApp have over one billion users each – planet Earth is online. What does all of this mean for higher education?

Without a doubt, the pandemic [Covid-19] changed how we think about higher education – the quick shift to Zoom classrooms to continue our learning communities demonstrated that online, hybrid, and distance learning are viable, legitimate options for reaching learners. Knowledge, skills, and competencies can be acquired by students in ways unimaginable just a decade ago.

Now, in this post-pandemic new online world, what is on the horizon for the curriculum of the future?

The challenges we face are unprecedented, from climate change to national sovereignty, and universities should be thought leaders in preparing graduates to become engaged citizens with the abilities to navigate and find solutions to these “problems without passports.”

It depends on exposing students to perspective-taking, different cultural approaches, critical thinking, truth, values, imagination, and problem-solving. The good news is that each of these important capabilities can be found and explored in literature – as they say, “today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

Students learn language through reading. As Kenyan writer and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o said, “Language, any language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture.”

As educators, we must ensure our students learn communication and culture, and the best way to do that is through reading literature discussing with classmates and being guided by a master teacher.

What needs to change is how we engage students with literature – let them see how it is relevant to what they do and think about today, and find technology-enhanced ways to reach and capture the attention of learners. The new field of Digital Humanities has emerged as a method for achieving this goal.

Will reading literature lead to career success, is there a return on investment for reading literature? The British Council conducted a study of 1,700 business, nonprofit and government leaders in 30 countries, and the majority under 45 had a degree in the humanities and social sciences. Over age 45? The degrees were in science and engineering.

The younger generation seeks leaders who collaborate, have empathy, and can look at problems from many different angles – all capabilities one can learn from literature and reading. The times are shifting, and higher education should lead the way.

Next week: The Curriculum of the Future, Part 2: Is ChatGPT a soulless tool or calculator for words?

Dawn Dekle served as President of the American University of Nigeria, Orkhon University of Mongolia, and the American University of Iraq-Sulamaini. She is currently re-reading one of her favourite books, Flatland, by Edwin Abbott Abbott, a story about a square existing in two-dimensional space that meets a sphere, which exists in three-dimensional space.