Celebrating Education

 

By Morten Flate Paulsen, Professor of Online Education
(IACEHOF 2024)

After four decades immersed in online education, I have concluded that my four favourite online education words are: flexibility, cooperation, transparency, and celebration. Since the IACE Hall of Fame has organized yearly celebrations of a new class of inductees since 1996, it is fitting to reflect on the significance of celebration in education.

I advocate for celebration as a vital tool to promote quality in education, focusing on excellence and significant achievements. It enhances personal and institutional pride, attracting more attention and joy to our field.

Anniversaries provide clear opportunities for celebrations and increased visibility. Graduation ceremonies and traditions surrounding diplomas, certificates, micro-credentials, and other proofs of academic achievements are certainly worth celebrating.

Many institutions share inspiring student and teacher testimonials, often initiated by marketing staff who uncover compelling stories through celebratory activities.

Awards of excellence, such as Teacher of the Year, Best Student, and Best Paper awards, can motivate individuals to excel and provide role models to admire. Various countries, organizations, and institutions have established schemes or strategies for such awards. Looking back, my personal motivation and career got a boost when I received the Best Presentation Award for Trends in International Electronic Distance Education at the NordData 89 conference thirty-six years ago in Copenhagen.

Several organizations have established schemes to honour educators for their important contributions in the field. Among the international organizations I know best: The International Council of Open and Distance Education (ICDE) offers prizes of excellence, the European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) maintains a Fellowship scheme, the International Adult and Continuing Education (IACE) Hall of Fame inducts outstanding educators, and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) designates Honorary Fellows.

Many of these educators have inspired me and numerous others. Mark Nichols has interviewed more than a hundred educators in the podcast Leaders & Legends of Online Learning. Susan Bainbridge and Norine Wark authored The Encyclopaedia of Female Pioneers in Online Learning. And I have profiled about 160 prominent colleagues in the open-access books, which constitute the chronicles My online Education World 1980-2020. We can all learn from these international role models and celebrate our local heroes.

In conclusion, I urge educators to embrace celebration, innovate celebratory practices, and incorporate them into their strategies. Many in our field deserve more recognition for their outstanding work. Celebration can inspire individual achievement, enhance institutional excellence, and lead to positive media coverage. Let us remember the power of celebration in fostering a vibrant and motivating educational environment.