The whole-person university

Dr. Aigul Sarenova
Director, Institute of Tolyq Adam
Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan

Dr. Aigul Sarenova explains why AI is pushing universities toward a more human-centered model of education.

Gavin Allen: What impact is digital technology having on university teaching?

Dr. Aigul Sarenova: A great impact. When our students came back to campus after Covid, they were digitally overloaded and were not comfortable with traditional modes of learning. AI and rapid technological advances meant we could no longer teach as we had before, so in response we created a program to support our students.

Tolyq Adam means “whole person” and is inspired by the 19th-century Kazakh philosopher, Abai Qunanbaiuly. He believed that a person becomes whole not only through intellectual growth, but also through the development of the heart and will. We shifted our focus from preparing students for a profession or specialty, to preparing them for life.

Academic knowledge still matters, but by itself, it’s not enough. Thanks to our academic autonomy, we were able to design and offer our own courses – including Critical Thinking and Creative Writing, as well as Life Design and Service Learning, which focus on personal development and the development of the heart.

Our Service Learning course, focused on volunteering and community engagement, was actually adapted from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Kong more than 10 years ago. At the same time, students continue to study AI, ICT, and entrepreneurship. We’ve increased the number of credits in these areas because we see them as essential for the future.

Gavin Allen: Do all students study those AI and ICT courses?

Dr. Aigul Sarenova: Yes, ICT and AI are required at the national level. In addition, we integrate AI across the curriculum, and offer more specialized courses like AI in business, marketing, or psychology, depending on the students’ field.

Gavin Allen: How have the staff adapted to technological change and a change in approach?

Dr. Aigul Sarenova: I think our teaching staff have adapted quite proactively. They understand that our students are the next generation, and that to stay relevant and truly engage with them, they need to keep developing their own skills. What’s important is that this is largely self-driven: our staff choose to take professional development courses themselves. At the same time, we have a strong culture of sharing expertise through methodological seminars, where colleagues exchange practices and ideas.

For example, right now we’re taking a course by a trainer with a business background who’s helping us integrate AI tools into teaching. You can already see colleagues experimenting with them in class.

Gavin Allen: As AI allows students to learn and get so much information on their own, will the university environment look very different in the future?

Dr. Aigul Sarenova: It has to be different – there is no other choice. The rise of AI means the university’s role is no longer just to deliver information, which students can get on their own. It’s more about making learning relevant to real life.

We are already seeing this shift. When I worked at a technical university, mechanical engineering students were studying Soviet-era machines that were no longer used, and they found this frustrating. Today, we work with industry partners to co-create a curriculum focused on giving students practical skills while preparing them for life. This is exactly what our Tolyq Adam project represents. In April, it received the Times Higher Education Asia award for “Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year,” showing that the university model is already evolving.

Gavin Allen: Does AI and technology make both learning and teaching easier?

Dr. Aigul Sarenova: Yes, but more importantly, it makes them different. For my generation, these technologies may still feel relatively new, but for younger generations, they’re simply a natural part of life. They’ve grown up with laptops and smartphones – whereas we started with typewriters. And interestingly, we’ve seen this kind of concern before. When Microsoft Word first appeared, people worried we would lose important skills and become less capable. But instead, the way we work just evolved.

The same is happening now. We don’t even rely on typing in the same way anymore – technology is changing how we interact with knowledge itself. So, I don’t think we should resist this shift. We can’t afford to stand still or try to go backwards. The real task is to adapt, and to use these tools thoughtfully in both teaching and learning.