Re-imagining Education: Forging a Path to Vitality & Flourishing

Societies across the globe has been ‘educating’ people to help them realise their potentials and flourish in life. In pre-industrial societies, education took place mostly informally within extended families, tight-knit communities, apprenticeships and simply being in the company of other human beings. Industrialization along with other forces of change brought to us a greater emphasis on formal education delivered through schools and universities. The change in both the conception of ‘education’ and also in the responsibility of its delivery provided many favourable outcomes in the form of widespread literacy, rapid scientific discoveries, increased economic productivity, and high standards of living. However, in the race to have more financial security, economic competitiveness, and productivity the purpose of education started to drastically change. Hence we now witness that despite having a large number of formal educational institutions, students are struggling to find joy in learning, vitality in their academic pursuits, and are failing to realise their true potentials.

The purpose of this talk is to engage with the community so we could together start thinking about the ways in which education can be re-imagined and could serve the purpose for which it is intended for – that is, joy, vitality and flourishing in life. In this talk, Dr Afzal will take the audience on a journey to re-visit what education really is, what it means to be educated, what are some of the ways in which we can re-claim ‘education’ and make it a source of joy, a spring-well for vitality, and a guidance for flourishing.

Dr Waseem Afzal has been teaching for the last 30 years. He has keen interest in developing authentic and joyful learning experiences for his students. Dr Afzal uses his experiences of learning and teaching in different cultural contexts including Pakistan, USA, and Australia to inform his pedagogy. His teaching is informed by his experiences in settings such as K-12, community college, and universities.

Dr Azal’s teaching quality has been evidenced through multiple national and international invitations to speak to students, accolades acknowledging the efficacy of his teaching and mentoring, recognition through teaching citations and a recent 2025 Faculty of Arts & Education-Charles Sturt University ‘Executive Dean Teaching Award.’