Collaboration, knowledge sharing and value co-creation as the best drivers of future development

If you think that changing countries is a challenge listen what Prof. Slađana said leaving Europe and currently working in Taiwan.

Hi EduEvo, I am Slađana Čabrilo, a Professor in the Department of International Business Administration, at the I-Shou University, Taiwan. I like to say that I am a passionate learner from a family of teachers (my parents were teachers too). I received the Ph.D. degree in industrial engineering and management from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. I have almost twenty years of teaching experience in a wide variety of contexts in Europe and Asia. My main research interest is in knowledge management, intellectual capital, innovation and business performance, and recently in international business strategy. My research experience includes participation in scientific and industry-related projects, publishing more than 70 academic articles, papers, books and book chapters, holding lectures and presentations worldwide, and serving on editorial boards of academic journals and conferences. 

EduEvo: How did you start your career?

Prof. Slađana: It was great that I’ve quickly realized how my passion for learning could become my profession. Being always good at math and science, I decided to study electrical engineering (computer science and system control major) at the University of Novi, Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences. After graduation and a few years of experience as a software engineer, I realized that I wanted to continue learning and master important soft skills for my future career. I pursued my second Master’s degree program in industrial engineering and engineering management at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences. Finally, I progressed to the PhD level and in three years I completed the first doctoral dissertations about intellectual capital in Serbian organizations and earned the PhD degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Since 2003 I have been teaching in various universities in Europe and Asia. From the early beginning of my academic career, I was brave enough to share my research findings and eager to learn from the best in my field of research. Thus, I participated in the most important academic conferences around the world building a valuable network of academic and practitioner contacts. My teaching and research profiles have been strongly shaped by collaboration and relationships with scholars and practitioners around the world. I strongly believe in collaboration, knowledge sharing and value co-creation as the best drivers of future development. Therefore, I have invested a lot of time, energy, and money to travel meeting experts around the world, learning from them and with them, sharing and growing.  

EduEvo: How can the present educational system be improved?

Prof. Slađana: Next level is Education 4.0 that allows learners to be the architects of their learning, characterized by the personalization of learning with flexible, dynamic, and adaptive learning pathways. This educational r/evolution merges digital transformation (the development of new innovative learning methods and intelligent environments such as Learning Management Systems/LMS, mobile learning, interactive and fun content, virtual teaching assistants/chatbots, digital interactions/clickers, intelligent tutoring systems) and pedagogical transformation (adoption of new pedagogical approaches such as active pedagogy, project-based learning, the flipped classroom, gamification, blended learning). Teaching should become couching, mentoring and nurturing, and a teacher should be a ‘guide on the side’ rather than a ‘sage on the stage’. Leaders in education and teachers should become the Chief Opportunity Orchestrators as education has to to create as many opportunities as possible for learners and help them rise to the occasion and foster lifelong learning.

EduEvo: What education means to you?

Prof. Slađana: Education should not be equated with learning. I absolutely agree with Albert Einstein that ‘education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think’. I see education as a long-life learning journey, and inspiring and nurturing as the key words. My aim in teaching is guiding the students’ discovery process towards the upper bounds of their zone of development. Personally, education is my main purpose, my passion, mission, vocation and profession.

EduEvo: What kind of advice would you give the youngsters being at the very beginning of their educational career?

Prof. Slađana: Work hard, be professional, dedicated, transparant and real with those you teach. Have fun doing research and teaching. Show students your passion for learning and instill them with a love of knowledge, exploration, and innovation. What at the end students will remember is how much do we care. Inspire students/young people to make a world a better place to live and work!