Towards
Quality: Role and Responsibility of Lecturers
The purpose of this rudimentary
Paper is merely to facilitate discussions on the subject matter and to attempt
to understand and appreciate the expectations in regard to the role and the
constraints testing a lecturer at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Some
issues are raised here with the objective of provoking discussions and seeking
solutions through collective wisdom.
The paper tries to set out the
following:
a)
To identify the role and responsibility of a lecturer;
b)
For internalization of the context in which the
lecturers are working ;
c)
To place the subject in its proper perspective with a
view to initiating a discussion on the subject.
The Context:
A student remains with a school
for long years. All the time, in school, he or she is receiving knowledge and
ideas. Education at this pre-College stage has a special importance because in
these years when the human mind is most impressionable, and also because most
of the students will leave off formal education after completing class XII. The
students are under the care and influence of the pre-primary, primary, and
secondary school teachers during the most formative years of their lives. The
learning there is of considerable significance to lecturers but is an exogenous
and uncontrollable variable.
While education in the school
level is primarily national and value-oriented, the education at the
Professional College like ours is internationally biased and attempts to make
the student a global citizen adding value to the business community who are our
direct sponsors. The transition from the school to a professional mould is
quite a challenge. The international targeting makes education quite different
from what the students have been used to in the past.
Lecturers endeavour to train and mould the minds of the
young people so as to make them worthy financial and / or information
technology keen citizens. The training that we impart is supposed to
accelerate the pace of growth of the nation. That change must make for a better
and healthier nation. That means that a tremendous responsibility rests upon
the lecturer to mould young minds into valuable assets in economic building.
The Lecturer Perspective: The Limits to the Discharge
of the Responsibilities:
The Need For An Attitudinal Change
There is an emergent need to be a
catalyst for change: the transformation from a lighter syllabus to a heavy,
voluminous, technical vocabulary driven context is a tremendous challenge
before the lecturer. The difficulties of expressiveness and communication in
the student tend to be impediments. They even appear to give the student a
certain restraining complex even as he sets out for this great journey of
learning.
The Lecturer is aware that he is a
change agent here. Instilling an attitudinal change requires a conviction in
the catalyst. There has to be an
attitudinal change manifest in the individual lecturer concerned; he (or she)
needs to be galvanized with certain dynamism and a spirit of dedication that
transcends the ordinary. There has to be a powerful motivation.
The Need to Inspire as
much as to Instruct
Educators are often called instructors, but the student
seeks inspiration more than instruction perhaps in greater measure. The task is
daunting when weighed against the background of the fact that at least some of
the students tend to be working long hours before attending classes. By the time they reach the lecturer, they are
tired if not fatigued. This is an exogenous, uncontrollable variable. The
lecturer has a motivational element to facilitate the absorption of complex
tasks.
Need to Arouse a Scientific Temper
The need to
balance between an exam driven student and the need to instill deep abiding
knowledge in him (which his sponsor and our Management expects) is a challenge.
To make the student mind dedicated to an evidence adducing learning is a
cumbersome task. Given that reading habits are weak in the formative years, and
that the influence of the visual media is pronounced, this is a daunting task.
Despite attempts, sometimes, students still expect lecturers to coach rather
than facilitate. The lecturer’s efforts to challenge the
student to higher responsibilities of independent reading are fraught with
mental obstacles in the recipient himself.
The
need to post him for examination
This
is what the student expects most in the lecturer. The student’s singular worry
is how to pass the examination. The benchmark for the performance has also
gradually turned to be the performance of the student as a group in the
examination. This requires a certain re-orientation on the part of the lecturer
by consciously driving towards exam focus rather than knowledge imparting. Are
lecturers fully examination technique driven? Most lecturers would think so;
but then are there reflections of such a belief in the ground reality?
The
need to cover vast portions in given time frames.
In
a given Semester (trimester) time frame, the balance between the occasional
weak comprehensive abilities of at least a segment of the students and the
short time frame is a matter of time pressure[1]. Given that students do
complain about non- availability of time after class and office hours, over the
last few years there has been a stretching of contact hours in all
specializations: from MBA to Diplomas. This has to be viewed against the
backdrop of profit motivation that is being suggested in the business
development context.
The
need for effective Faculty time
Sometimes
faculty are burdened with correspondence and administrative duties at least
indirectly. Faculty has to think, read and write to improve.
The
need for Unanimity of Approach
The
lecturers need to present a coherent approach with regard to the approach to
the student community, particularly in regard to discipline. The Team View
strengthens the students to respond positively.
The
need for Coordinated Approach to Learning
Often,
lecturers are seen to be working in departmentalized islands with a
willingness but no-opportunity to share with colleagues. This is manifest
sometimes even to the student. Lecturers may be observed not to move in tandem,
but as departmentalized bureaucracies. Experience sharing is a regular event or
a semi-annual event, which needs to be institutionalized. There has to be organizational
memory and collective wisdom.
Need
for Long Termism rather than Ad-Hocism
Gradually,
there appears to be a short ‘termism’ in our approach to solutions and people.
This has a brought about incertitude in the minds of the affected. As organizations
are permanent, even if individuals are transient, there appears to be conscious
need for institutionalizing long ‘termism’ particularly with the younger
stakeholders. There is a need for identification with the institution in
totality in case there has to be longer-term research orientation.
The Perspective Shift:
Lecturers
need to move over to be a place of ‘excellence in knowledge’, to ensure
personal development of both the students and the staff and bring in more
confidence in themselves. How exactly do
we do that?
[1]
Selectivism in subjects / modules/ chapters may often misfire. So there is need
for comprehensive coverage.
Comments on this paper may be sent to Dr. Jayaram
Nayar at jaynayar@gmail.com
