A Reminder of Responsibility, Not Simply a Thank You
My latest piece in Al Madinah Newspaper, published on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day: “A Reminder of Responsibility, Not Simply a Thank You.”
On World Teachers’ Day, I find myself wanting to say something beyond “thank you.” I want to say: we count on you.
In our religious, cultural, and historical tradition, knowledge, teachers, and students have always held a deeply respected place. Their value does not need an annual occasion to establish it. It is already rooted in our values and in the responsibility that one generation carries toward the next.
Today, however, that responsibility has become even greater. Rapid technological, economic, and social change means that young people need more than access to information. They need teachers who can guide, advise, notice, and care. We need knowledge that remains loyal to people and to constructive human values.
Education today is not only about what a student knows. It is also about how they behave, develop skills, think, adapt, and grow as a person. These needs change constantly with age, circumstances, social and economic backgrounds, and a world evolving at extraordinary speed.
This makes the teacher’s role much greater than transferring knowledge. A teacher understands the student and the reality in which they live. A teacher can take a student by the hand without taking away their independence, and can open a path without choosing that path for them.
So, on World Teachers’ Day, my message is directed to teachers themselves:
You are our hope, and yours is the work.
May God grant you strength when firmness is needed, gentleness when kindness is needed, and the wisdom to know the difference.
There is a beautiful Saudi expression: الحَوْف — Al-Hawf. It describes a form of care that goes beyond simply looking after someone. It means gathering people in, holding them close, protecting, understanding, tending to their needs, and helping them forward until they reach success.
For a teacher, this means seeing the whole student—their abilities and difficulties, their family and social circumstances, their different backgrounds, and their capacity to adapt. It means understanding that what works for one student may not work for another; that difficult behaviour may have circumstances behind it, that struggle may have a story, and that silence may hide a need no one has yet noticed.
Teachers do not simply contribute to academic achievement. They help shape people—their knowledge, character, skills, confidence, and ability to navigate life.
And in an age when machines are becoming faster and knowledge more abundant, perhaps the teacher’s greatest value will remain in the most human of abilities:
to see, to understand, to guide, and to care.
May our teachers continue to grow in strength, wisdom, and positive impact.
Dr. Ehssan Dakhil Allah Aljohani
Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
Organizational Behavior & Innovation
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