People of my vintage will readily recognise this reference. In the best of our automotive machines, we needed a little starter, a catalyst, a push, to get things fired up. This critical function was chiefly the responsibility of the humble ‘Spark-Plug’. However, like numerous seemingly innocuous, modest functionaries, without making a fuss or a song & dance, without calling needless attention to itself, the Spark-Plug ignited a process that would subsequently provide limitless joy, contentment, excitement, and most crucially, set in motion a relentless kinetic force!
The Spark Plug functions like a film set's Line Producer or a culinary intern working on mise en place. Though small and largely unseen, they are indispensable; without them, the entire machinery loses its speed, efficacy, and engagement.
There is no debate that key stakeholders—teachers, department heads, senior management, and support staff—perform irreplaceable roles in building a student's foundation. Yet, if we were to add a few 'Spark Plugs' into this mix, the impact on learners could be profoundly life-altering.
True Influence:
It is our parents & teachers who present constant reasons for us to feel inspired. Consciously or inadvertently, their attributes, actions, and accomplishments spur us to emulate, aspire, and follow their lead. Having said that, there is a parallel reality in the same set of people. With time, we begin to see through a fog of glory, and the seemingly infallible tend to become finite, limited or diminished in their scope & capacity to solicit the degree to which they once stirred us. This isn’t in any way a failing.
Far from a scathing indictment, this perceived ‘dilution’ is merely a natural course of life. Be that as it may, the net effect is a safety, comfort & belonging learners start feeling with their parents, teachers, and while that in itself is excellent, it does, without doubt, make them seem ‘less heroic’ to us.
However, this flatlining may well coincide with a stage in a student’s developmental journey where, failing to pass on the baton of inspiration to a worthy individual can prove to be an opportunity missed, of colossal proportions. It could be like that rocket that’s gained a certain initial momentum and altitude but the final boosters refuse to kick in! Two facets of this proposed Spark-Plug introduction into a school/student’s life therefore ought to be mindfully considered.
One, the timing.
Two, the chosen individual, who must, although it may seem unbecoming to compare, necessarily and non-negotiable, be hugely motivating to the intended target audience – i.e. learners.
As long as we can ensure that we don’t miss the bus and strike at the right moment, just prior to that ‘gap’ I referenced earlier, and we do it through someone who is an amalgam of appeal and aspiration to the relevant learner generation but also someone who embodies and aligns with a set of values that are thought to be vital; we would have created a highly charged environment in which a learner with a little seed or germ, can be struck by the invisible lightning of that mentoring Spark-Plug, and turn into a resplendent beanstalk!
True Impact:
Many of us will offer, by way of proof of longstanding and continued interventions with similar goals, any number of talks, discussions, guest lectures, interactions that schools routinely facilitate/host. And that’s absolutely right, no debate there. However, the brutal truth of the matter is that in their appeal and impact, finite interactions, the type that are frequently enabled by and at schools, are limited. While they platform wonderful chances for students to be exposed to and learn from experts from several realms, they are hardly sustainable in a manner where they can transition from being knowledge/skill enhancing windows to portals of deep questioning, engagement, investment, investigation, exchange, mindset/paradigm shifts.
In my own view, lasting impact and an all-encompassing environment of energetic exchange can be created if one critical factor is clearly prioritized – time. Sustained, regular, long-term. Plainly speaking, if we can, having identified a specific individual, get them to commit to a reasonable time-period of constant engagement with learners – one school term, one academic year; then, and only then, will the kind of impact that is theoretically envisioned, be implemented.
True Agenda:
An equal non-negotiable for this entire, admittedly audacious endeavour to fructify into meaningful influence, is the precise manner/methodology of its implementation & execution. Having established the first prerequisite of longevity of the intervention itself, in its on-ground form and actual roll-out and nature of interaction, there is one fundamental guideline that we must also make sacrosanct. That is Agenda. What will the Agenda of this resource/mentor/expert be?
I have personally come to believe that teachers at schools, regular subject teachers, for absolutely no fault of theirs, have been mandated into a rather stringent, time-consuming, spontaneity-stealing administrative system. While I understand that back in my time as a student, perhaps the unstructured manner in which some of our teachers taught us was one extreme, not the wisest approach. But what I see now is the polar opposite, with teachers bound by planning & paperwork that would put a government department to shame. From advance lesson-plans running into months and any number of other similar requirements; a huge part of a teacher’s time & psychological faculties has to be invested in this compliance. The result – no time, headspace, inspiration to teach in an engaging and motivational way.
I share the above background because to my mind, it is crucial that the mentor/expert that comes into the suggested program, NOT be leashed into any kind of set curriculum, or demands pertaining to pre-planning, submission of lesson-outlines etc.
When mentors reach a high level of intellectual maturity, real-world circumstances—both local and global—should shape their interactions with students. We must not only permit organic offshoots and topical digressions, but encourage them. While rooted in critical realities, these exchanges should remain freewheeling, forming the cornerstone of how this program is run.
True Outcomes:
It isn’t a secret that the planning, execution, and regular running of this kind of program will be a monumental enterprise, from various points of view. And therefore, we must, as we draw to a close, reiterate, clearly, why it is worth all the trouble and effort.
School studies, due to pressures, expectations, unexciting learning, can be all too monotonous. It can be downright mundane given how students today have a raft of engaging options always a few clicks away. At times, school education can also be quite removed and divorced from market/sector-sought skills and knowledge sets. The generation itself doesn’t take too kindly to instruction or structure, the way perhaps ours did.
This creates a ripe opportunity for education led by aspirational mentors. Instead of a one-way sermon, it becomes an inclusive partnership—a shared adventure of unlearning, relearning, and mutual growth where everyone feels safe, equal, and empowered to evolve. It is a mindset shift, a paradigm ethos, where collaboration, communication, and consent must be unrelenting assurances. And then, we WILL become, in the global order, what we as a country ought to embody and represent.
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