I had some very interesting encounters recently. I was invited to be a Guest Speaker at an Institute of Management in Delhi on its convocation day. This Institute has been set up by some seniors from my alma mater—IIT, Kanpur. The convocation ceremony was well-designed, had all the appropriate rituals, and was largely managed by the students themselves. As a young, private Institute, it may not have the ‘market recognition’ as of now, but it surely is operating on some values that reminded me of earlier days of post-secondary education, where ‘graduation’ had some meaning.
The second encounter was as a keynote speaker at a premier Malaysian University in Penang, which had hosted the first Asian conference on ‘University-Community Partnership’. This University had recently been accorded an APEX status by the Malaysian Government, and provided substantial additional funding for its research, teaching and outreach activities. The argument made by this University to secure such a privileged status was its commitment to sustainable development and service to ‘bottom billions’. It argued that this path of exploration was indeed academic excellence.
The third encounter was largely virtual; I just recently read full-page advertisements where a leading Management Institute was offering special recognition awards to ministers and politicians from a certain state, as a ‘recognition’ of their contribution to the nation.
What a contrast, indeed? It is possible for a publicly funded and governed University to demonstrate excellence in emerging concerns of human survival for the poor majority; it is possible for a privately funded institute to ‘reconstruct’ some of the academic traditions lost in most public institutions of higher education in our countries, emphasising values of learning, respect for teachers, and responsibility in ‘graduating’; it is also possible for a private post-secondary institution imparting professional education to act in a totally unprofessional manner.
So, the critical question about the re-construction of post-secondary education in our society is about leadership. The profession of educationists, and institution-builders among them, is today mired by mediocracy, indiscipline, pettiness and rigidity; there is hardly any innovative and risk-taking type of leadership in view, which is necessary to build institutions of higher education in public and private domains. Intellectual independence, liberal scholarship and rigorous teaching, once hallmarks of great institutions of post-secondary education, have withered away.
It is, therefore, not surprising that many recent applicants for clerical jobs have had engineering and management education; curriculum, syllabus and teaching materials in many institutions of post-secondary education have not been revised for 3-4 decades; teachers and professors have not kept a pace with recent writings and research in their academic domains.
How to catalyse leadership and institution-building in post-secondary educational institutions? How to ensure that a vast diversity of actors are able to work together in this field? How to nurture learning among teachers and their ‘bosses’ first? Where has all the passion gone? Or where have all those with passion gone?
Rajesh Tandon
December 14, 2009
I share your concern about leadership in higher education. I would like to mention that a number of entrepreneurs have entered the domain of higher education with ulterior profit motives. Unlike the business leaders of 1950s-1980s, the new entrants in the higher education sector have no vision beyond making money and converting their balck money into white.
I will narrate a story of Chairman of a media school in Delhi. He was very happy with one of the visiting Faculty members who helped in admissions getting good numbers. So the Chairman told him to associate with the institute in whatever manner the professor wanted. The Professor told him that he would like to work for instition building. But the chairman got perplexed. He said, our institute already has a building. So what institution does not require any new building. The professor understood that it was not a place worthy of his contribution and left the job instantly.
Many higher education institutions are run by such people. So you have chancellors of private university with little scholarship, vision and values. Chairmen of private institutions who do not care a fig about education.
The scenario is grim and I am not optimistic about scenario getting better in near future unless the government appropriates the policies in a manner that fosters values in education.
Comment by Srirang Jha — December 25, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Dear Sir, I recently watched a move called ‘3 Idiots’ where Mr. Rancho alias Fungshuk Wangru (Aamir Khan played this character) always challenged the existing system of education. It was obviously not a welcoming step to all his teachers and batchmates and initial reaction was quite obvious. Actually no body was expecting the kind of challenge that student was throwing, at least from a new student who had just entered into the vicinity of set standards, rules, procedures and thought process. But one thing clicked in my mind that he used all his learning to fathom the situation right from the beginning till the end of the movie. He used his mind, his previous learning (even though it was ‘bookish’) and applied it with great affinity and belief – really fantastic in this ‘Plastic’ world full of shine and less utility. Ultimately he was awarded with an astronomer’s pen by Director of College. He emerged as true leader because he put in his effort to become more skilled, more informed having lot of knowledge about the applicability of his skills and information.
I learned from my experience that leadership comes when we tie us with nature and its primary process of standardization. Somehow it takes a great effort to become courageous as well as performer with all our ability. We are very much tempted to look upon another side where the reactions of people become more prominent than our own effort and hence we loose the soul of our effort to bring change. I do not want to blame anyone here but somehow we are facing a great conspiracy to deviate us from the real meaning of ‘Leadership’ and that too in Youth who will be taking charge of ‘Future’. If we analyze the current teaching methods, it is very much congruent with the terminology we often use in documentation – ‘Cut, Copy and Paste’. Hence we are recycling the older versions and presenting it with some ‘Mirch Masalas’.
What I consider and believe in the current education system is the weakened base of primary and lower primary students who carry only facts without judging the righteousness of it or without having the knowledge of using it appropriately. I also feel that when we were getting education in a formal setup, one thing was already communicated to us – ‘Do not be jealous with your friends who are doing excellent in study but always keep challenging yourself to become the best and hence try to gain knowledge from your teachers as much as you can, no matter how he / she treats you.’ In our family, it happened. Whenever I challenged myself, I had wonderful years of success in my class and my rapport with my teachers became incredibly well, which I still cherish. Respecting teachers and caring for them became a habit and natural. Their faces still remind me about their contributions in my life. I do not know how fare I have done in my academics but surely there is a major contribution from my teachers in it along with my hardships. I repent that I could not become a ‘Rancho alias Wangru’ but I definitely believe that our society, we all need more Rancho in our higher education system to become a potential leader in our society.
Thanks and regards
Surojeet
Comment by Surojeet Chandan — January 7, 2010 @ 7:50 pm
The questions that you pose on catalyzing leadership and where those with ‘passion’ have gone spark memories of what I learned through my experience as an educational developer in a Canadian university. It seems to me that the moral educational purpose to the foster the ‘higher’ development of persons has been lost as a defining aspect of ‘higher’ education. Without this central purpose, passion has been drained,for, intuitively, we know that true human passions are rooted in a greater meaning and purpose - a horizon of social and moral and spiritual significance beyond ourselvs.
Many higher education leaders and teachers of today have succumbed to the tiresome and dehumanizing performative demands of the marketplace and governments. Teachers must have a use value to the university. And use value is irrelevant to truth. Relevance is in bringing in the dollars and developing the image of the ‘excellent’ university. Teachers become enterprising, self promoting, productive performers — performing a passion for ‘excellence’ which sadly has little to do with fostering their own, or their students, development as moral persons. Yet, in spite of these dehumanizing demands, I have witnessed many professors dedicated to learning and to their student’s development. The passion is there - but certainly overshadwed, colonized, and closed down by performative demands and language that threaten or perhaps have already accomplished,?? the moral collapse of the (western) university. What do you think? Does this reasonate at all in your higher ed context?
Comment by Heather MacKenzie — January 12, 2010 @ 4:27 pm
I agree with the views of Dr Tandon. Leadership of an institution does have an important role in building a brand.
Where has all the passion gone?Have all those with passion gone?.
Very critical questions relevant to people engaged in post secondary education, and also beyond. The issue of teacher not updating their knowledge base and not engaging in research is relevant also to institutions beyond the providers of post secondary education.
Rather than attempting an answer to the highlighted question, I am tempted to raise some more questions:
· What is it that propels people /teachers to upgrade themselves?How can the institution create those incentives for people to grow and learn?
· What is it that drives quality? Success breeds success they say-so what makes an educational institution successful?- its faculty and its vibrancy: its students and their thirst for more knowledge?its leadership and its vision?
· How can one build a learning culture in the universities and other educational institutions , including CSOs engaging in delivery of education, esp higher education.
Just some initial thoughts .Thankyou Sir for initiating this relevant discussion.
Comment by Namrata Jaitli — January 13, 2010 @ 11:15 am