15.Notes from Buch Memorial Lecture

[Blog of the Annual-cum-International Conference 2015]

M.B.BUCH MEMORIAL LECTURE

delivered by
Dr.A.SUKUMARAN NAIR, Chairman,

Kerala state Advisory Board of Education 
& Former Vice Chancellor,M.G.University, Kottayam.

We lag behind most of the important educational systems of the world in maintaining global standards.

Role of research in  quality upgradation of education

*Educational quality upgradation begins with the generation of new educational practices and instrumentalities using scientific  methods.

Quality upgradation demands

a)Quality watching for identifying and validating new practices adopted by the      educationally advanced countries.

        

b)Revalidating such practices for the Indian   context using rigorous
 research practices.

c) Generating alternative instrumentalities for use in our education system.

We practice a weak model of educational research which cannot serve the above functions

      

* Teaching of research methods in education in India is done in a slip –shod manner which ultimately results  in perpetuating the traditional educational practices.

 Kothari Commission’s call for  educational change

“The  traditional society of the past is no longer with us; in the traditional society, change is so slow that the conservatism of the educational system does comparatively little harm in a modern society, on the other hand, change is so rapid that the system must be always alert if it has to be abreast of modern developments”

                                              -Kothari Commission (1964-66)

 

Views of prominent futurologist of education - Alvin Toeffler

*We live in a world order where we have to change, and change in a big way. We have no soft options open. We   live in a global scenario, where a country will be 

relegated to the background unless it is willing to run faster”  .

     

  *“We  have  to run faster to remain in the same place”.

* “Yesterday’s solutions become tomorrow’s problems”.

                                               

The most important principle used in Modern Educational Management

*Poor student learning = poor teaching +  poor managing styles

*Recreate the system : This is possible only if we can recreate the system using professionalized practice of Education.

* An  Empowered  system :What we need is an empowered system run by empowered professionals

* Creating a new cadre of Professionals :   Empowering the professionals --    the cutting- edge functionaries -- point to the urgent need to create a new cadre of professionals who can operate the system using sharper definitions about educational practices to be adopted.

Borrowing outmoded Models:

*Right from the time of independence, we have  adopted the wrong policy of borrowing the outmoded  models  discarded by the West.

*We have to focus on validated new models.

Our new responsibilities

*We have to opt for a quick change

*The global knowledge society of the present demands a radically new   approach to teaching and learning.

*We need to remember that yesterday’s educational practices and modalities will not answer today’s educational needs and even less  so  the educational   needs and demands of tomorrow. 

 *This is to be treated as a wake –up call for all professional educators   in educational systems operating education using old assumptions.

Why we turn out inferior  quality of research in India ?

*Advanced countries teach research as a series of operational processes to be performed.  

 * We teach research using verbal    descriptions of research procedures.

Lesser nations as models for India

*We need to change drastically our notions about teaching  and teacher education.

 *The sooner we change, the better, especially since many of the    smaller nations have succeeded in achieving global educational standards during the past ten years, using      e- technologies in a big way.

*   They have succeeded in pushing back a country like India with a long and glorious tradition in education.

  *Most of the countries which have succeeded in the competitive global scenario of education have upgraded the  quality of educational delivery using the new communication technologies.

*We have to discontinue the concept of teaching or presenting      processed knowledge by the teacher and replace it by learner – generated learning by processing knowledge from different sources

*The most important challenge we face in adopting the new   instructional strategies is that of equipping teachers with      the necessary know–how and competencies for using different sources for acquiring knowledge.

We have to re-educate our   educators

 What is wrong with  our approach ?

*Educational reforms in India are attempts to make peripheral system     changes meant to answer first-order questions in education.

*Designing instructional strategies for self-creation of knowledge,     freedom for selection of key functionaries, scientific system assessment    etc. are done using unscientific procedures. We seldom attempt to   answer higher level questions relating to education .

*All  advanced educational systems have moved away  from the use of  conventional conceptions for system change, seeking solutions for  first-order problems. 

   *Modern educational systems are currently engaged in solving fourth order or fifth order problems in education.

Ideal procedures for quality improvement

*Teacher centered, institution - based full autonomy for all   institutions.

*Scientific institutional planning by educational managers Use of institutional accreditation (multiple accreditation) for understanding weak points in institutional functioning.

 *Developing ideal  institutional work - culture for system   operation.

*Use of global quality-watching as a guide for system   improvement.

*Use of advanced instructional technologies  for ensuring  self- construction of knowledge by students.

*Use of performance - based teacher selection.

*Developing ideal  institutional work-culture for system   operation.

Managerial approach for system management

*A widely used effective approach which can    produce quick results with minimal inputs.

*Used by all important systems worldwide.

*Indian higher education is yet to adopt this    strategy in a big way.

Back to the Kothari Commission

“We either build a sound , balanced , effective and imaginative system to meet our developing needs and respond to our challenging aspirations ,or be content to be swept aside by the strong currents of history”.