Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it

Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it

Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher

Next week is the start of Semester 1, and we meet a whole of new students, and a whole new journey begins — again. But this is no Groundhog Day, but part of a journey of discovery for our students. And although my role as a Professor involves advancing research, innovating new ideas and creating impact, I have never lost my true love of teaching. In fact, I love it more each year.

To me, the person I am now has been highly influenced by the great teachers of my past — they inspired their students, they had faith in their student’s abilities, and they showed them new insights into a complex world. Possibly, they didn’t even know what they were doing, and most of us have never had the chance to say thanks, but they have left us with a glow in our hearts.

The word “inspiration” is banded about a great deal these days, but inspiration is not a general thing for everyone, it exists in all of us, and we are all inspired in different ways… to improve on something that is good or to fix something that is bad or wrong. We can as much be inspired by seeing wrong in something as in someone who opens up new insights.

Let me start with the wonderful Tim Minchin:

“Please? Please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You don’t have to do it forever, but if you’re in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. Just for your twenties. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke — we need male primary school teachers. Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.”

We live on a small planet, but education and research bind people together with a common drive to improve things. People with talent can achieve their full potential, and education opens up so many doors that many close. It gives people the confidence to take ownership of their lives.

You should never sit back on what you currently know and you force yourself into new areas. At times, especially when there is virtually no knowledge around, you feel like you are free-falling, but you catch yourself and find yourself leading rather than following.

I have never tried to put research before teaching, and I never will. But research is a core part of stimulating my interest in my subject, and it makes me both a teacher and a student. I continually learn from others, and then I compile this knowledge and find my own viewpoints, and fit new things into current and old things. I can then see the track and the future and see how our societies could be improved.

Education is one of the most important things in our lives and for the health of our society. Innovation, too, will play a core part of our future, and research must play a core part of this. So, go write that patent, go read that just published research paper, go write that machine learning code, go write that book you always wanted, go register for the MSc you always wanted to do.

My route

A few years ago, I decided that I was going to teach and research the thing that I truly loved: cryptography. I read Bruce Schneier’s book, and I could see a new world evolving. At first, I was a novice, and the squiggles of maths were just a distraction, but I stuck with it and tried to find simple explanations for the core principles.

To me, these complex methods provided the solution to our flawed digital world. And so, I’ve forced myself to continually read new papers and to learn areas which were new. For every new method, there’s a time that researchers around the world are reading a new idea. You are then at the starting gate with others, and it’s a race to see if the work you have just read is going to change the world or just another research output in someone’s career. Unfortunately, research outputs have become rather like a race, too, and the increasing focus on metrics is possibly suppressing true creativity and risk-takingx in research.

Research

In academia — unfortunately — you are often measured on your research outputs. For most, you can be an amazing teacher, but if you are not producing research papers and getting in grants, you can be seen as not quite making the mark. Career progression for many academics is thus often focused on the quality of your research outputs.

For me, research and innovation must be at the core of pushing us forward. It drives us to learn new things, and where we try and understand the boundaries of our world. It thus stimulates our minds in continually think about solving problems, and, many cases, solving problems. Unfortunately, when I first got into research, no-one actually told me why I was doing it, and it is only years later that I now understand why I do it … to make things better, to debate and find solutions, and to receive and pass on knowledge.

And so, for early career researchers, I say that you should try and write and create software and take risks in both your research and teaching. Always be creating in whatever way you are most comfortable with, and hopefully, people will read what you say and give you advice on how to improve your work. Every piece of feedback you get should make you a better researcher. While negative feedback can hurt, it is normally there to give you pointers on how you can improve your work.

Conclusions

And so, my tip to anyone is to teach, learn and do research into something which you genuinely love and have a passion for. You have been given the most precious gift of intellect, so don’t waste it!

Good teachers leave a legacy in the heart and minds of those they have taught. Go be a teacher!

I will leave it to Tim to finish: