The Role of An Instructor in Management Education in India - A Young Management Teacher's Perspective
-INTRODUCTION: Education has come a long way in India. Today, India boasts itself as one of the countries having the maximum number of B-Schools, and more than that, every year it adds hundreds of them in its kitty. Quality and quantity never go together. The principle of 'More the Merrier' does not apply here unfortunately. Today, I want to focus on the issues that exist for young management teachers. I've written already about the issues that faculties face in one of the posts earlier, but I am taking a different perspective this time and focusing solely on the issues faced by young teachers. For us, the definition of a young teacher will be the having experience less than 5 years, with a post graduate degree, no industry experience, or boasting of one to years of industry experience [which is generally an experience of failure].
ISSUES:
1) How to maintain a distance with students: The students and young teachers [here after referred to as TEACHERS only] are generally of the same age group[s]. In case a student is having some prior job experience before joining MBA, well, he may be older to the teacher. Though this does not look to be a big problem on face, what happens that students do not take these teachers seriously. The teacher does not have extra experience, neither he/she has solid research/consultancy base nor he/she has extra qualifications to differentiate himself/herself from students. Students feel that because the teacher has only MBA, we're equal to him/her in a sense that after two years, we'll have the same degree. They also feel that we have cleared entrance, we will clear the exams and we'll get the job, what the hell these teachers do in that?!
2) Under qualified people join this profession: In my career, I have come across only one or two genuine teachers who love teaching and who are passionate about it. By and large, any youngster, who, if cannot do well in industry, sees it as a secondary option, or if he/she does not want to work hard, they consider this field. This secondary treatment has also added to the problem. Now these kinds of teachers are rarely devoted to the job and the general impression goes that, in teaching, only bogus people enter. People do not see that teachers are only the community that read upto 12 am after going home, they are the people who prepare this so called professional corporate managers!, This really has typical consequences. And, as we noted in the start, because too many B-Schools are coming up, the college will select any Tom-Dic-Harry as the teacher and devil's cycle would start. I have met many guys who are looking for Ph.D.s so that they can enter in academics at a lateral stage as if it were a time pass job. They do not take it seriously. For them, it is just that they will do something rather than passing the time. They also accept that they want to do Ph.D. of an 'average' quality so that one qualification may be added!
3) Research, I don't know what it is!: The young teachers, quite a few of them the products of the teacher as noted in point 2, are rarely equipped with necessary knowledge to handle the challenges of research. The fact is, no average B-School teachers, engage in serious research. Cut Copy Paste articles may be plenty in numbers, but genuine publications are not there. As a result, the teachers they produce, would have the same attitude. Moreover, these young teachers are loaded with the stuff they would find most difficult to teach. Though these poor guys may not have prepared a single research proposal in life, or would not have heard name of hypothesis, they are asked to teach Research Methods! The senior teachers do not want to come out of their comfort zone and they stick to teaching simplest of the subjects that they would have been teaching for years. And when these youngsters fail to deliver in the subjects like QT, Business Law, Business Policy etc. they are blamed for the same by their senior teachers, students and the management of the college. Research and consultancy are the only points that young teachers can look at for the progress, of course, apart from teaching. But, unfortunately, the college authorities are rarely interested in that development. Most of the colleges do not encourage the teachers to do it, and in some cases, it is actually discouraged!
4) Google all the way: There was a time when having some information that others do not possess would be a competitive advantage at an individual or at an organizational level. But as the technology has it, now a days, the information can be sought by anyone by just visiting google. Though this is a good thing to have happened, the role of the teacher has shifted entirely due to it. The teacher is not expected to represent the stuff written in a book or on a website. They have to teach them via real life experiences and cases, which is too difficult at a young age unless one is highly talented.
5)What is the solution?: The article cannot give any solution to these issues. Or say, frankly speaking, I don't see any solution in this except one take it on one's own shoulder to do the progress. The only two ways, as already mentioned, are consultancy and research, or at the most, if college is kind to permit, attend the industry on deputation for training, for which industry would also not be very happy either! The management can send the teachers at least to the good quality FDPs run by IIMs/other premier B-Schools, The teachers themselves are also to blame partly for this problem if they do not update their qualifications and do not do the research and consultancy work. They [the teachers] will have to understand that mere teaching will never suffice in the upcoming times. The parents can provide the moral support to these teachers and may want to explain their children regarding how difficult it is to teach for a young person. Though, it should never mean the students should be asked to entertain poor quality, but, at least, if the teacher fails to give them something extra all the time, which is definitely a part of his role now a days, it may be overlooked.
-CONCLUSION: This is a very typical problem and it will never any clearcut XYZ solution. All the parties, the teachers themselves, the senior teachers, the trust, the government and even the parents of the students will have to support this cause. Otherwise days are not far when teachers will be recruited in colleges so that their names can be sent to AICTE / UGC for compliance and they are just paid to sit at home!!!!!
--DISCLAIMER: The article is solely based on my personal experiences, perceptions, opinions and information. It should not be treated as a standard piece of research or as a generalized opinion. I do not expect that everyone should agree with this. I welcome your views. I can be reached at pvariya@gmail.com
Thanks for reading this piece of information. I hope you found it useful.
ISSUES:
1) How to maintain a distance with students: The students and young teachers [here after referred to as TEACHERS only] are generally of the same age group[s]. In case a student is having some prior job experience before joining MBA, well, he may be older to the teacher. Though this does not look to be a big problem on face, what happens that students do not take these teachers seriously. The teacher does not have extra experience, neither he/she has solid research/consultancy base nor he/she has extra qualifications to differentiate himself/herself from students. Students feel that because the teacher has only MBA, we're equal to him/her in a sense that after two years, we'll have the same degree. They also feel that we have cleared entrance, we will clear the exams and we'll get the job, what the hell these teachers do in that?!
2) Under qualified people join this profession: In my career, I have come across only one or two genuine teachers who love teaching and who are passionate about it. By and large, any youngster, who, if cannot do well in industry, sees it as a secondary option, or if he/she does not want to work hard, they consider this field. This secondary treatment has also added to the problem. Now these kinds of teachers are rarely devoted to the job and the general impression goes that, in teaching, only bogus people enter. People do not see that teachers are only the community that read upto 12 am after going home, they are the people who prepare this so called professional corporate managers!, This really has typical consequences. And, as we noted in the start, because too many B-Schools are coming up, the college will select any Tom-Dic-Harry as the teacher and devil's cycle would start. I have met many guys who are looking for Ph.D.s so that they can enter in academics at a lateral stage as if it were a time pass job. They do not take it seriously. For them, it is just that they will do something rather than passing the time. They also accept that they want to do Ph.D. of an 'average' quality so that one qualification may be added!
3) Research, I don't know what it is!: The young teachers, quite a few of them the products of the teacher as noted in point 2, are rarely equipped with necessary knowledge to handle the challenges of research. The fact is, no average B-School teachers, engage in serious research. Cut Copy Paste articles may be plenty in numbers, but genuine publications are not there. As a result, the teachers they produce, would have the same attitude. Moreover, these young teachers are loaded with the stuff they would find most difficult to teach. Though these poor guys may not have prepared a single research proposal in life, or would not have heard name of hypothesis, they are asked to teach Research Methods! The senior teachers do not want to come out of their comfort zone and they stick to teaching simplest of the subjects that they would have been teaching for years. And when these youngsters fail to deliver in the subjects like QT, Business Law, Business Policy etc. they are blamed for the same by their senior teachers, students and the management of the college. Research and consultancy are the only points that young teachers can look at for the progress, of course, apart from teaching. But, unfortunately, the college authorities are rarely interested in that development. Most of the colleges do not encourage the teachers to do it, and in some cases, it is actually discouraged!
4) Google all the way: There was a time when having some information that others do not possess would be a competitive advantage at an individual or at an organizational level. But as the technology has it, now a days, the information can be sought by anyone by just visiting google. Though this is a good thing to have happened, the role of the teacher has shifted entirely due to it. The teacher is not expected to represent the stuff written in a book or on a website. They have to teach them via real life experiences and cases, which is too difficult at a young age unless one is highly talented.
5)What is the solution?: The article cannot give any solution to these issues. Or say, frankly speaking, I don't see any solution in this except one take it on one's own shoulder to do the progress. The only two ways, as already mentioned, are consultancy and research, or at the most, if college is kind to permit, attend the industry on deputation for training, for which industry would also not be very happy either! The management can send the teachers at least to the good quality FDPs run by IIMs/other premier B-Schools, The teachers themselves are also to blame partly for this problem if they do not update their qualifications and do not do the research and consultancy work. They [the teachers] will have to understand that mere teaching will never suffice in the upcoming times. The parents can provide the moral support to these teachers and may want to explain their children regarding how difficult it is to teach for a young person. Though, it should never mean the students should be asked to entertain poor quality, but, at least, if the teacher fails to give them something extra all the time, which is definitely a part of his role now a days, it may be overlooked.
-CONCLUSION: This is a very typical problem and it will never any clearcut XYZ solution. All the parties, the teachers themselves, the senior teachers, the trust, the government and even the parents of the students will have to support this cause. Otherwise days are not far when teachers will be recruited in colleges so that their names can be sent to AICTE / UGC for compliance and they are just paid to sit at home!!!!!
--DISCLAIMER: The article is solely based on my personal experiences, perceptions, opinions and information. It should not be treated as a standard piece of research or as a generalized opinion. I do not expect that everyone should agree with this. I welcome your views. I can be reached at pvariya@gmail.com
Thanks for reading this piece of information. I hope you found it useful.
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