This story originally appeared on the Christensen Institute’s blog, and is reposted with permission.
Key points:
Picture your favorite teacher from your childhood. He or she may have been great at explaining things, energetic, affirming, funny, or had other wonderful attributes. I remember Mrs. Rider. She was smart and pretty, and showed she really believed in me.
With this picture in mind that highlights the many wonderful teachers who typify the “sage on the stage” teacher role, you may wonder why Guide School (full disclosure: I’m the founder) prepares teachers and other adults to become “guides” instead of sages. Why not spend our efforts developing more wonderful sages like Mrs. Rider?
The printing press provides a helpful analogy to answer that question.
Over time, Disruptive Innovations change how things are conventionally done
Before the invention of the printing press, books and written materials were primarily produced as handwritten manuscripts. Scribes, often monks or other church officials, painstakingly copied texts by hand using quill pens and special inks to illuminate and decorate each parchment.
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The printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century, revolutionized the production and sharing of written knowledge. It allowed for the mass production of books at a much faster rate and lower cost. In short, texts became accessible to a greater number of people.
But it also meant disrupting the profession of scribes, who suddenly found their work had shifted. Some scribes found new opportunities as proofreaders or editors within the emerging print industry. Others continued to provide handwritten services for personal letters and legal documents. Additionally, a market remained for beautifully handcrafted manuscripts among wealthy patrons who valued calligraphy.
There’s a parallel between the stories of scribes and conventional teachers. Just as the best scribes produced unique artistry in rare, individually commissioned works, the best teachers create rare but enviable classrooms with well-behaved, deeply motivated, impressively thriving students. Unfortunately, however, many people are left out of these ideal scenarios. Without the printing press, millions of people would have languished without access to printed materials. Without transforming the conventional classroom, millions of students today will continue to suffer from want of effective instruction. That’s because while the conventional system could develop more wonderful, conventional teachers like Mrs. Rider, doing so requires an investment of resources often unavailable to every student in every school across the world. All too often, only those who are lucky or whose families can pay receive the benefits of those investments. 
Happily, the printing press’s disruption of scribing proved to be an irrefutable boon for the education of humanity. The printing press facilitated the growth of literacy, numeracy, and scientific knowledge by enabling the widespread distribution of printed materials with dependable accuracy and lower costs. It played a crucial role in the Renaissance, Reformation, and Scientific Revolution, allowing for the mass sharing of ideas at unprecedented speed and scale. By the end of the 15th century, millions of copies of thousands of book titles had been printed, marking a dramatic shift in the accessibility of knowledge.
AI and its potential to disrupt conventional teaching
Similarly, the rise of AI-powered, online apps for instruction is disrupting the teaching profession. It’s giving rise to a new wave of global knowledge distribution with increasingly dependable accuracy and precision, allowing for mass learning at unprecedented speed and scale.
When the printing press arrived, the scribe profession did not disappear, but scribes did have to adapt to new roles as their industry changed. Similarly, many conventional teachers will need to adapt to a new role as their role of sage becomes disrupted. 
Fortunately, this pivot presents a remarkable opportunity for teachers and society at large. For years, experts have identified that students do best when they have personal, individual tutelage to help them learn. Top-down, whole-class, monolithic instruction isn’t working for most students–and observant teachers know that. The shift from sage on the stage to guide on the side of each student is a welcome relief for teachers who see that the conventional approach is broken in that it leaves behind too many students and want a model that allows them to have the individual impact they hoped for when they entered the teaching profession.
AI frees up teachers’ time to give more individual attention and students’ time for more than foundational knowledge attainment. The Flex blended-learning model, which pairs AI-powered apps with group discussions, real-world projects, individual coaching from guides, and other student experiences, attracts teachers who see its value and want its benefits. Rather than feeling replaced by computer-based instruction, these teachers feel attracted to a clear opportunity to shift their time spent on lectures and embrace the facilitation of a more student-driven learning design for their students.
Guide School prepares adults who feel called to this new role. The guide profession is different from the conventional teaching profession. It requires different mindsets, skills, and dispositions. But for those well-suited to and trained for the role, it’s a profession with unprecedented opportunities to help youth worldwide develop knowledge and talents to a higher level than ever before.
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Heather Clayton Staker is an adjunct fellow at the Christensen Institute, specializing in K–12 blended learning. She is the co-author of “Blended” and “The Blended Workbook.” She is the founder and CEO of Guide School (www.guide.school), which helps teachers implement a software-led “Flex” instructional model and elevate their role to world-class mentor and guide.

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Meaningful opportunities for teachers to build expertise and leadership beyond their classroom add to a sense of professionalism and fulfillment. In an age when the role of technology in education is rapidly changing, why not allow teachers to lead the way?
On average, about 25 percent of children in the early grades struggle with reading. These students are often reluctant readers because they find the process complicated, and they lack confidence in their abilities.
As students navigate an increasingly complex world defined by artificial intelligence, social media, and rapid technological change, the need for … Read more
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BusinessDay
Dr. Richard Ikiebe
March 17, 2025
Professor Emmanuel Ayankanmi Ayandele (1928–2000), one of Nigeria’s most incisive 20th-century historians, occupies a unique position in African intellectual history. He stands as one of Nigeria’s most consequential scholar-critics, whose work reshaped historical scholarship, challenged post-colonial elitism, and redefined the role of academia in national development.
A scholar who combined rigorous academic analysis with unflinching social critique, Ayandele’s work transcended the ivory tower to interrogate the soul of Nigeria’s post-colonial leadership. His contributions and enduring critiques remain vital to understanding Nigeria’s socio-political trajectory.
His career at the University of Ibadan, where he taught from the 1960s until his retirement, coincided with Nigeria’s perhaps most turbulent decades, a period during which his scholarship became both mirror and scalpel for the nation’s elite class.
Born in 1928 in what is now Ekiti State, Ayandele’s early education at Anglican Mission schools immersed him in the very system he would later critique. This formative experience of excelling in Western curricula while witnessing the erosion of Indigenous knowledge shaped his lifelong preoccupation with cultural dislocation.
After studying history at the University College Ibadan (later the University of Ibadan), he earned postgraduate degrees at the University of London, where he developed his trademark synthesis of African agency and colonial impact. Prof. Ayandele emerged as a leading voice in the famed “Ibadan School” of history, which revolutionised African historiography in the 1960s–1970s.

While contemporaries like Kenneth Dike focused on pre-colonial states, Ayandele pioneered the study of colonial-era African elites. His 1966 biography Holy Johnson: Pioneer of African Nationalism established his method: meticulous archival research combined with psychological profiling of historical actors.
At Ibadan, Ayandele became known for his combative seminars, where he challenged students to reject colonial-era historical frameworks. His 1970 paper “The Changing Position of the Awujale of Ijebuland” exemplified his approach using Yoruba oral traditions alongside colonial records to reconstruct indigenous agency under imperial rule. Ayandele’s magnum opus, The Educated Elite in the Nigerian Society (1974), remains his most impactful contribution, offering a framework still used to analyse governance. This work transcended history, influencing political science, sociology, and policy debates about education reform. The Educated Elite distilled decades of observation into a blistering critique.
Drawing from his dual identity as both product and critic of colonial education, he diagnosed Nigeria’s leadership crisis as rooted in what he termed “mental decapitation”—the elite’s alienation from indigenous value systems. The book’s controversial thesis argued that Nigeria’s Western-educated class had become “deluded hybrids,” mimicking colonial oppressors while failing to develop authentic national visions.
His analysis drew ire from contemporaries who saw it as elitist hypocrisy. Yet Ayandele, who served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Calabar (1975–1978), insisted his critique came from “patriotic anguish.” Colleagues recall his frustration when political leaders quoted his work selectively while perpetuating the systems he condemned.
Ayandele’s influence extended beyond historiography to political theory and sociology. His concept of “windsowers”-elites who reap independence’s benefits without sowing developmental seeds-entered popular discourse, used by activists and columnists alike. Later works like Nigerian Historical Studies (1979) and A Visionary of the African Church: Mojola Agbebi (1991) expanded his examination of cultural synthesis. Despite his critique of Nigeria’s trajectory, Ayandele rejected pessimism. His 1986 convocation lecture at the University of Jos, “The Challenge of Nationhood,” called for educational reforms integrating Indigenous knowledge-a vision unrealised but increasingly relevant in Nigeria’s competency-based curriculum debates.

Ayandele’s later years saw him marginalised by Nigeria’s academic establishment, his unsparing critiques deemed unfashionable in the structural adjustment era. Yet his warnings about elite reproduction mechanisms proved prescient. The 1990s explosion of private universities-many prioritising profit over pedagogy-validated his concerns about education becoming an elite status marker rather than a developmental tool.
Today, as Nigeria grapples with governance failures that eerily mirror Ayandele’s 1970s diagnoses, his work experiences renewed interest. Young scholars are rediscovering his insistence that historical scholarship must engage contemporary crises. The #EndSARS protests’ intellectual underpinnings-particularly their critique of intergenerational elite failure—may bear traces of Ayandele’s analytical framework.
Prof. Ayandele’s greatest contribution lies in framing Nigerian academia’s moral imperative—to produce scholarship that serves national development rather than elite interests. He died in 2000 – just as Nigeria transitioning to civilian rule after nearly 40 years of military dictatorship. He never held political office, yet his work continues to shape debates about Nigeria’s future. His unrealised vision of universities (where scholars synthesise global and Indigenous knowledge, and as crucibles that produces “New Nigerians”), remains academia’s urgent mandate
In an era of renewed decolonisation discourse, his call for synthesising global and indigenous knowledge rather than rejecting either offers a nuanced alternative to binary thinking.
The University of Ibadan, where he trained generations of historians, now houses his personal papers-a trove awaiting scholars willing to confront uncomfortable truths about Nigeria’s post-colonial journey.

As the nation struggles with persistent elite capture, Ayandele’s ghost seems to whisper from every crumbling infrastructure project and every rigged election: The educated elite have failed their historic mission. The question remains whether Nigeria’s current generation will heed his warning or repeat his lament.
As Nigeria grapples with crises of governance that Ayandele presciently dissected, his work stands as both indictment and roadmap-a challenge to transcend the pathologies he diagnosed over half a century ago.
 
Richard Ikiebe, Ph.D, FNIPR – who is the President of iNSDEC Limited/ GTE, is a media expert and scholar with extensive experience of over 45 years in both the public and private sectors. Was until recently a Senior Fellow and pioneer Director of the Center for Leadership in Journalism at the School of Media Communication (SMC) at Pan Atlantic University in Lagos, Nigeria. He continues to work with the University as an adjunct Senior Fellow teaching courses in Media Leadership and Public Policy.

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