Education lessons from FC Barcelona

The highly anticipated Champions League final between Manchester United and FC Barcelona at the Wembley stadium last Saturday proved to be such a football spectacle. The game certainly lived to its billing and thus etched itself in many a football fan’s memory. The moment Lionel Messi scored that thunderbolt of a goal, I heard students screaming in ecstasy. You could think they were actually seated in the Wembley stadium. When the game came to an end, I found myself reflecting on what Barcelona’s success can teach us as far as education management is concerned. Of course Lionel Messi is not a PhD holder and neither is the Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola a university professor. But we can all agree that this Catalan club is more than just a football club. It is an institution. It has a character, history and no particular individual can ever be greater than the club itself. All this has a lot to teach us especially as far as educational management is concerned. The kind of football being played by Barcelona is based on a foundation laid by the Dutch football legend Johan Cryuff of the ‘total football’ fame. And now 20 years later the world is seeing the fruits of that foundation. On the academic scene, the lesson is that we need to build foundations that can last and not those that create temporary success. It is important to have facilities like laboratories, libraries, good classrooms and qualified teachers as the foundation on which education success can be built. Another important aspect of the foundation is discipline. There is not a particular player in the Barcelona team that we can accuse of not being disciplined. All they concentrate on is playing the game and scoring goals. In fact, perfection seems to be their only obsession. Students should never dream of success if they are not ready to be disciplined. Success without discipline is simply impossible. Barcelona’s obsession with perfection ought to be duplicated by both students and school administrators. Doing the best you can at all times is the way to go. One of my teachers always used to tell us before an exam that we should strive for the best because according to him, only the best is good enough. At the post-game press conference, Manchester’s Sir Alex Ferguson conceded that Barcelona were indeed the best team in the world. In other words, there was no way Manchester could have won the game without playing better than Barcelona. Barcelona can also be credited for identifying and nurturing football talent at a young age. Players like Messi are still young but already performing at the highest level. Where education is concerned, there is an urgent need to develop an education system that can recognise the talents of our students and offer them an opportunity to utilise these talents to become the best they can be. Over reliance on exams as a measure for success ought to be reviewed to pave way for a more holistic education. School is where many young people spend a large section of their life and so it should not just be about accommodating those who are good at passing exams. Our schools should be able to discover and develop sportspeople, musicians, artists, comedians and all sorts of professions. Last but not least, schools should focus on performance and success. For a team like FC Barcelona, playing football is not enough. They must play it well and beautifully. They must also win trophies while at it. In line with this, a school is not good enough if it can not facilitate learners to succeed at academics and other activities. Football is a very popular game but we should try to learn from its successes and failures as well. We should therefore strive toward creating an education system that is as effective and as beautiful as the football played by FC Barcelona. ssenyonga@gmail.com