[Blog of the Annual-cum-International Conference 2015]
M.B.BUCH
MEMORIAL LECTURE
delivered
by
Dr.A.SUKUMARAN NAIR, Chairman,
Dr.A.SUKUMARAN NAIR, Chairman,
Kerala
state Advisory Board of Education
& Former Vice Chancellor,M.G.University, Kottayam.
& 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.
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”.
