DIDACTICS II

A bridge to nowhere

The article “The bridge on the River Choluteca” is about a 484-metre-long bridge in Honduras,
which was designed to withstand the extreme weather conditions of the area and was built by
a Japanese firm in 1998. However, in October that year there was a devastating hurricane
called Mitch that destroyed everything around the region, except for the Choluteca Bridge. It
had effectively kept its promise of being indestructible, but there was a problem: the nearby
land had swept away and the river Choluteca had changed its course. Consequently, the only
thing that remained in place was a bridge over nothing.

This is a metaphor that Prakash Iyer uses to describe what could happen to us if we don’t
adapt to the world’s constant changes. In the same way, the Israeli historian Yuval Harari
compares the construction of our identities with tents that can be folded and moved
anywhere, in contrast to those old stone houses with very deep foundations that are
impossible to migrate.

While Harari thinks that the most important things to emphasize in education are emotional
intelligence and mental stability, Iyer follows a much more pragmatic approach and says that
we need to create practical solutions to given problems. The Israeli historian is not sure about
what skills young people should be taught, but he is convinced that the greatest problems they
will face in the future job market will be psychological. One issue that both educators agree is
that people need to reinvent themselves repeatedly throughout their lives, even if they don’t
know what kind of world they will live in within a few years.

In my opinion, I agree with Prakash Iyer on the necessity of being practical in life, and this can
be clearly observed in the circumstances under which teachers are currently. We had to
reinvent ourselves overnight and create a complete online educational system to guarantee
the continuity of the lessons and the safety of the students. Nevertheless, who takes care of
our mental stability? It is not simple to deal with our families and videoconferences at the
same time – and at home! And while the world is falling apart, we just have to behave as if
everything was normal and fine, and go on doing our jobs.

Particularly, I believe that if we had had emotional intelligence as a subject in our education,
today it would be easier for us to cope with lockdown and our profession. That’s why Yuvan
Harari’s point of view is absolutely acceptable.