Teaching for Tomorrow: From Science to Soul in Education

From the marshlands of England to the classrooms of Mexico and now the bustling heart of Mumbai, Howard Gee’s journey has been anything but ordinary. A scientist by training and an educator by calling, he has carried with him a conviction that learning thrives when rooted in empathy, connection, and human values. In Mentor’s special issue for Teacher’s month, he speaks about how his leadership continues to place humanity at the centre of education, preparing students for a future where skills beyond the test matter most.

School

I didn’t love school to start with, but certainly by grade 9, I enjoyed every day. Except Maths which I was still not bad at, I enjoyed all my other subjects. Biology and English were my fortes. Music the extracurricular string to my bow. I was a nice middle class boy aiming at university and true to form I ended up with a Ph.D in freshwater Biology.

I didn’t go straight into teaching. I didn’t even consider it. I was lucky to become an environmental consultant and developed a good reputation as something of a national expert on coastal grazing marshes. I worked on major projects and found solutions to mitigate the environmental impacts of developments. People listened to me - it was interesting stuff.

Journey into Education

My journey as a teacher started in the city of Salford where many of the students quickly disabused me of the idea that as a teacher my job was to share with them my passion for science. The abstract and philosophical nature of learning about electric currents and reactivity series was not something many of them found much interest in.

Yet with time, I learnt that human connections can change that. Connecting with learners in a kindly manner engaged them and opened them up to interest in the unfamiliar. Gaining their confidence allowed me to teach them and helped them develop a level of knowledge that at least got them through exams. Not all, but many felt they were making progress - a few fell in love with the subject. This was no mass damascene conversion to the world of Science, but it was a gentle weaving of a web that kept potentially disaffected youngsters in the system, and understanding the value of education.

The Mexican Way of Learning

After thirteen years in schools in the UK I suddenly found myself in Mexico, a land fecund with passion and creativity, yet where students seemed to be taking exams every two week: where there were multiple choice exams for literature, and I was expected to teach students unfamiliar with the basic concepts of atomic structure, electronic configurations. If I put a data table on the screen, students would genuinely ask if they were supposed to learn that! In this complex world of education I had to lead a team of committed Science teachers into the light. Move them away from rote and get them to explore teaching for understanding. Starting Physics without numbers was a great initiative of one of my colleagues; it unsettled some, but surely more students got the concept.

India 

Finally I came to India. I was back in the safer world of western inspired international education where my values and understanding were a better fit. But I soon learned that the ecosystem in which we were trying to take hold, was every bit as alien. My daily job as Head of Secondary and then Principal was to lead my students and their parents to understanding that the goal of education is learning. That schools should be just about learning. That learning can happen in many ways. That all students have the capacity to learn if we don’t put them off with unrealistic expectations. 

The road to success is not usually through a raft of level 7s in the IBDP. Good people who make valid contributions come with a whole range of skills. The more I got to know people here, amazing people with incredible achievements and inspiring stories, the more I realised how few of them had thrived through their education. They who had so much to give, had gained so little from a rigid and remote system. The place for humanity at the centre of our education seemed to me more important than ever.

Conclusion

As we face a future of complexity and uncertainty, it is my firm belief that our job as educators is to develop the future proof skills which AI cannot replace. My empathy, that which makes me human - these are my weapons and my gifts. Alongside the finer points of electromagnetic induction, my job is to imbue these into my students. These will take our children forward into an AI future, in a globally warming world that at the moment seems to be spiralling into chaos. 

More than ever we can see that acing the test is not a skill that will carry you far in a very complex and competitive future. Other skills are required. They need to be our focus if we are to survive. They must start in every classroom.