Most of us have memories of an inspirational teacher who first lit our enthusiasm for the subject we love, and then supported and encouraged us as we took our first steps.
But writing, too, can be inspirational.
Teaching cases are aspirational pieces of writing. The best teachers encourage students to engage fully with their own aspirations as well as with the circumstances of the case. One doesn’t have to speak for long with any leading business person before hearing of an inspirational case that has seen them through good times and bad as they made their way in the world.
Aspiration must be challenging but it must also offer hope of being achievable. We know how quickly students can become disengaged. The very best case authors give students a route from the unknown into the known.
One way of doing that is to write and teach cases exploring business constraints, challenges and cultures at a local level. Develop and write about your own contacts within the business community in which your school lives. Your students will thrive and engage with brands, challenges and successes with which they have a familiarity and intimacy – while also sparking their aspirations.
That is why we are proud to have launched Case Focus as part of our efforts to support and encourage case writers throughout the Middle East and Africa. I am thrilled to say that the first issue of this peer reviewed outlet for cases will be available from next month (June 2020) and that the call for submissions is now open for issue two (31 August 2020 deadline).
And if you are a less experienced case writer, why not take advantage of the easy and wide accessibility offered by our first online case writing workshop with Martin Kupp and Urs Mueller?
Become the case writer you want to be: aspiration isn’t just for students.
