Note: This article is based on the keynote speech delivered at the 9th Inspirational Scholar Symposium (ISS) 2025.
Introduction
Assalamualaikum, distinguished guests, fellow educators, and respected colleagues. It’s truly an honour to stand among those who dedicate their lives to shaping minds and nurturing futures.
My sincere thanks to the organiser for the invitation and insisting that I come here today and share my thoughts. To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of long speeches, and I’m quite sure many feel the same. So I promise to keep mine simple, sicnere, and short.
Life is funny, sometimes! I never dreamed of becoming a lecturer; not in my wildest imagination. But life, as always, has its own mysterious way of charting our paths. From being a hardcore introvert who preferred silence over the stage, I somehow ended up spending more than 30 years in academia. Crazy, isn’t it?
And along the way, I’ve walked many paths – from an ordinary lecturer to dean, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Deputy Director General of Higher Education, Vice Chancellor, and now, back to being a full-time academic.
But one thing about being an academic is that it keeps you humble. No matter how far you’ve come, there’s always something new to learn. Education keeps teaching us.
And being an introvert, I’ve always been a curious soul. Someone who likes to question, to think differently, to look beyond what everyone else is saying.
That’s why my topic today is “Beyond The Buzzwords.” Because in a world full of slogans, trends, and fashionable ideas, what really matters is meaning, and the courage to think beyond the obvious.
So this morning, I invite you to reflect with me, not on how we can teach better, but on what it truly means to educate in a world where knowledge is infinite, but wisdom is rare; where information is abundant, but purpose is scarce.
Education is no longer just about what we know. It’s about how we think, how we lead, and how we inspire others to find meaning in uncertainty.
Reframing the Challenge
Recently, I came across an article titled “Stop Recycling the Past and Calling It the Future.” That phrase struck me because it describes what’s happening in many of our universities today.
Too often, we update our tools. We buy smartboards, adopt new learning platforms, hold hybrid classes, but we rarely update our thinking. We confuse modernisation with transformation. Using smartboards does not make us innovative. It’s just digital substitution, a new medium for the same old message.
Modernisation is about improving what already exists. Transformation, however, is about imagining what could exist. And transformation is never comfortable. It asks us to unlearn, to let go, to rebuild.
The world our students are entering is not the one we graduated into. Their world is defined by complexity, connectivity, and constant change. Our task, therefore, is not just to catch up. It is to rethink, to reframe, and to reimagine.
And that begins with a question: Are we teaching for the future, or merely replicating our past? Because if our students are learning the same way we did twenty years ago, something is wrong. The future won’t wait for a curriculum review.
The Educator’s Loop
Sometimes I feel that we, as educators, are trapped in a loop, constantly trying to “teach better,” to perfect our slides, to refine our delivery, to complete yet another online module. But perhaps the real challenge isn’t how we teach, perhaps it’s why we teach.
In a world where AI can summarise, translate, and even explain concepts better than us, our role must change. AI may replace the teacher, but it can never replace the educator. We are not transmitters of knowledge; we are transformers of meaning. Our true role is to ignite curiosity, to build character, and to nurture conscience.
We must ask ourselves: Are we producing graduates who can pass exams, or graduates who can solve problems? Are we preparing them to follow instructions, or to challenge assumptions?
This is the educator’s loop. The constant effort to refine without rethinking, to improve without transforming. It’s time we break that loop. The goal now is not to “teach better,” but to “teach differently.” To educate minds that are not afraid of change, but capable of leading it.
From Information to Transformation
AI can now deliver information faster, cheaper, and more accurately than any of us. But education has never been about information. It has always been about transformation.
A few weeks ago, I had a podcast conversation with Tan Sri Idris Jusoh. He said: “Lecturers can no longer teach what they know, because AI can do that better. They must teach what the future will be.”
That statement challenges everything we’ve built our careers around. We’ve spent decades mastering content, but perhaps the future of education lies not in content mastery but in context creation.
President Drew Faust of Harvard once asked, “How can we create minds capable of innovation if they are unable to imagine a world different from the one in which we live now?”
Our task is not only to prepare students for jobs; it is to prepare them to imagine. To dream. To question. To challenge. We must teach them to see beyond the textbook, to connect ideas across disciplines, and to use knowledge responsibly.
If AI teaches content, we must teach conscience. If algorithms provide answers, we must teach how to ask better questions. Education, in the age of AI, must be less about transfer of knowledge and more about transformation of character.
Stories that Stirred Change
Let me share a few moments that changed how I look at education.
The first happened twenty years ago. I was a certified trainer in business intelligence. Back then, we taught accounting students how to calculate manually, but the software could already do it. What they really needed to learn was how to design accounting model, how to interpret, how to reason, and how to decide.
Then, in 2019 at the UMK entrepreneurship fair. The hall was full of student booths selling cakes, drinks, clothing, and handmade keychains. I thought: as an entrepreneurship-focused university, is this really the best we can do?
Why aren’t our science students teaming up with our business students to create prototypes, sustainable solutions, and social innovations? Why do we stop at creativity, but rarely reach innovation?
More recently was a simple question from a student: “Professor, why do we learn things that YouTube and AI can teach better?” That question hurt, but it opened my eyes.
Today, that truth has become even clearer. AI is no longer a threat; it’s a mirror. It reflects how stuck we are in outdated habits. It reminds us that the future will not belong to those who know more, but to those who learn faster; those who can adapt, integrate, and innovate.
And that, my friends, is where leadership in teaching truly begins; by recognising that transformation starts not with technology, but with mindset.
“So, how do we evolve? How do we redefine the role of the educator in an age when machines can deliver knowledge, but not wisdom? Let’s explore that next, as we look at what it means to be a sense-maker in the storm.”
Educators as Sense-Makers in the Storm
We stand at a crossroads where knowledge is instant, information is infinite, and attention is fleeting. In this new world, educators must evolve from being the “Sage on the Stage” to becoming the “Sense-Maker in the Storm”.
Our students no longer look to us merely for answers; they look to us for meaning. Anyone can Google an answer, but very few can interpret it, evaluate it, or apply it with integrity. This is our new calling. To lead learning not by telling, but by guiding; not by controlling, but by connecting.
It calls for three transformations; each demanding humility and courage.
First, from Authority to Authenticity
Students today no longer follow titles; they follow trust. They are inspired by honesty, not hierarchy. When we admit what we don’t know, we model lifelong learning. When we show integrity, we invite respect.
Second, from Instruction to Facilitation
Our classrooms must evolve into studios of exploration. Instead of asking, “Who understood the lesson?”, we should ask, “What did we learn together that we didn’t know before?”
Third, from Knowledge Transmission to Wisdom Cultivation
Facts are everywhere; wisdom is scarce. Our task is to teach discernment, to help students connect intellect with empathy, knowledge with responsibility.
President Rafael Reif of MIT once said, “MIT built its reputation for serious innovation by translating basic science into technologies that serve society.”
That statement reminds us that innovation is not born from isolation; it is born from collaboration, from curiosity, and from courage. So let us lead not through authority, but through authenticity. Let us build classrooms where learners are not mere recipients of knowledge, but co-creators of understanding.
That is the essence of empowering leadership in teaching.
Reflection and Redesign
Let’s pause for a moment and reflect.
If AI can already answer our students’ questions, then perhaps our true role is to help them ask better ones. Reflection is where transformation begins; not in policies, but in mindsets. Real reform starts when we have the courage to redesign the familiar, to question the comfortable, and to risk failure for a greater purpose.
From my experience working with educators, the silence that follows this reflection is often powerful. Deep down, many of us already know what needs to change. What we lack is not knowledge, but permission and courage.
To move forward, we must lead three fundamental shifts:
From Content Delivery to Knowledge Co-Creation
Invite students to co-design projects and modules. When learners become collaborators rather than recipients, ownership replaces obligation, and curiosity comes alive.
From Performance Metrics to Purpose-Driven Learning
Grades measure compliance, not curiosity. What if we asked, “What impact did your learning make?” instead of “How many marks did you score?” Purpose motivates where marks cannot.
From System Followers to System Redesigners
Challenge outdated structures. Pilot new ideas. Treat classrooms as laboratories for change. Universities were built on traditions that once served us well, but may now restrain us. It’s time to redesign without losing our soul.
Transformation is not a committee decision; it is a personal conviction. True leadership in education is the ability to reform from within; to evolve without losing integrity, to change without losing identity.
From Followers to Originators
We have spent much of this morning talking about transformation. But transformation is only the beginning. The real goal is origination; to create knowledge, not merely consume it.
For too long, the developing world has measured its success by how well it replicates Western systems; curricula, rankings, benchmarks. But replication, however polished, can never replace originality. We do not progress by copying others’ ideas; we progress when we dare to ask our own questions.
Professionals apply knowledge. Originators challenge its boundaries. We need to rebuild our intellectual independence, to believe that our own soil can produce knowledge, theory, and innovation.
Let me offer a simple framework: five stages to move from followers to originators.
Stage 1: Mindset Reset
Replace “best-practice transfer” with “first-principles design.” Instead of asking, What are others doing?, ask, What problems do we own that the world hasn’t solved yet?
Stage 2: Foundation Building
Teach logic, systems thinking, and experimentation as core skills. Encourage learners to test, fail, and iterate.
Stage 3: Translation
Connect labs to life. Link research with real challenges – flood resilience, food security, digital equity.
Stage 4: Originality
Build theory studios where scholars can create constructs grounded in local realities. Knowledge that grows from our context will travel farther than knowledge we import.
Stage 5: Diffusion
Share your discoveries, publish your frameworks, and export your insights. Let the world learn from us.
This is how universities, and nations, move from absorption to authorship. Not by rejecting others’ knowledge, but by reframing it through our own lenses. So, my friends, let us stop measuring our worth by how closely we resemble others. Let us instead measure it by how courageously we innovate from within.
Call to Action
Before I close, let me leave you with three simple challenges; simple to remember, but transformative if practiced.
First: Audit your assumptions
Ask yourself: What practices have we accepted as normal that no longer serve our purpose?
The hardest change often begins with questioning what we’ve always done. We cannot transform education by doing the same things more efficiently; we must have the courage to do different things meaningfully.
Second: Mentor, don’t just manage
Leadership is not about authority; it’s about authenticity. Titles may command, but only trust inspires. Be the kind of leader who lifts others higher, who helps others find their voice, not one who silences it.
Third: Be bold
Don’t just improve systems; redesign them. Don’t just follow change; lead it.
The future will not reward those who wait for permission; it will belong to those who act with conviction and compassion. Remember this: AI may teach faster, but only humans can teach with heart.
Machines can process data, but they cannot nurture dreams. They can compute logic, but they cannot ignite purpose. So let us not compete with algorithms; let us complement them with empathy, imagination, and wisdom.
Titles will fade. Systems will evolve. But the impact we make through meaningful leadership will live on, in every student we inspired, every colleague we uplifted, and every change we dared to begin.
That, my friends, is the essence of empowering leadership in teaching and learning.
Systemic Change: A Shared Responsibility
We’ve spoken about personal courage and institutional reform, but transformation cannot happen in isolation. Not even at the university level. To truly move from followers to originators, change must be concerted, coordinated, and courageous, across the entire higher education ecosystem.
University leaders must dare to redesign and reimagine. But MOHE too must evolve; from regulator to enabler, from controller to catalyst. MQA must rethink its frameworks; rewarding innovation, interdisciplinarity, and societal impact, not just compliance and documentation. And auditors must shift from checklists to context, evaluating relevance, creativity, and real-world outcomes.
When every level, policy, accreditation, and practice, moves in the same direction, transformation becomes unstoppable. That’s when our universities will no longer be followers of systems, but shapers of futures.
And when this alignment happens, from the classroom to the ministry, our nation will begin not merely to imitate others, but to originate ideas, innovations, and inspirations of its own.
That is how we turn ambition into reality when courage meets coordination.
Closing Thought
So as we leave today, let us carry one conviction within us: that education is still the most powerful force for human progress, when it is guided by empathy, imagination, and integrity. May we continue to question bravely, to lead wisely, and to serve selflessly. For the true measure of leadership is not what we achieve, but what we inspire in others.
Thank you and may we all continue to lead with courage, imagination, and purpose.
Dr. Azizi is a senior academic at Malaysian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Business (MGSEB), UMK (https://mgseb.umk.edu.my) and former university leader with experience in research policy, academic governance, and innovation strategy. He currently teaches and consults on higher education and entrepreneurship and can be contacted at [email protected].
