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Better teaching, more learning Business courses much in demand Campus Notes
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Better teaching, more learning GOOD results in an examination are usually considered as sine qua non of teacher effectiveness. But it is not the whole truth. Earning respect of students, parents’ feelings and a teacher’s own behaviour towards students, community and administration also count for his effectiveness in and outside the classroom. It is commonly seen that the community makes itself assertive in one way or the other as and when anything goes wrong in a school questioning the veracity of teacher effectiveness. A teacher, however, does not work in a vacuum. He is influenced by the environment in which he functions. His own personality traits, his own perception about the whole of the educational scenario, an administrator’s outlook towards teachers and the community’s concern are some of the major factors that determine the role of a teacher. The Education Commission (1964-66) begins its report with a pertinent thought: “The destiny of India is now being shaped in her classooms.” Unfortunately, it was taken as a mere rhetoric and was not addressed adequately. Classroom organisation, classroom climate and classroom management today sound new. If these are taken up in all seriousness, the outcome is certain to be brighter. It has been established in a research study that appropriate concern for the classroom situation can increase 39 per cent of scholastic output and social behavior of a student. Little efforts are, however, made to stress these pedagogical components in a school situation. Mere teaching contents and traditional methodology do not make a teacher effective. Relationship is considered as one of the major players to make a teacher effective not only in scholastic but also other achievements. Proper communication, removing roadblocks and active listening are some of the potent skills that a teacher needs to be equipped with. These skills hardly meet due attention during pre-service and in-service training courses. The Right to Education (RTE) Act places directly many challenging jobs for a teacher that can make him more effective. Non-segregation of one student with another, holding membership of the School Management Committee, participation in training programmes, maintaining the pupil cumulative record, maintaining daily teachers’ diary, making a success of continuous comprehensive evaluation and participation in curriculum formation are some of the major responsibilities of a teacher. The government should make efforts to strengthen teachers so that they can effectively discharge their Creativity in teachers is another value that is normally lost sight of. A teacher may not be considered merely as a human resource because exploitation and resource go together. Calling teacher as a human resource is to treat him as a commodity, and a commodity cannot be creative. A teacher should be considered more as a spiritual being with immense potential for creativity. If transformation for a better environment is to be brought in a school, creativity in a teacher, whether in helping a student in solving his problems or in matters relating to innovation in teaching, should be properly invoked and harnessed. Student development, in real sense of the term, can’t be thought of without inculcating spiritual values as part of a teacher’s approach in all matters. It is true that it is difficult to bring about spiritual transformation, but certainly not insurmountable. This aspect, conspicuous by its absence in the present set-up, should be emphasised in pre-service and in-service training courses. Needless to say, such spiritual strength will lead to self-knowledge, self-confidence and skills to deal with not only the students’ temper but also the life in its totality. Swami Vivekanada has emphasised such strength as of paramount importance. The spiritually-transformed teacher will be able to pay undivided and unfragmanted attention to his duty as a teacher with self-confidence and immense joy. It is hoped that factors like relationship, communication, active listening and spiritual transformation, as discussed above, will earn due attention not only at the hands of the teachers but also other stakeholders in education to make the teachers effective in and outside the classroom. Efforts should be made for recuperating old values of teachers to produce excellence in students without any monetary consideration. The writer is a former Deputy Director of Education, Haryana
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Business courses much in demand IN economically uncertain times, it’s far from easy for graduates, armed only with a degree, to get that vital first foothold on the employment ladder. So it’s no surprise that postgraduate courses in the business and management field are enjoying rude health, with university business schools already putting up the “full” sign on a large proportion of programmes starting this autumn. “There’s massive demand from all over the world,” says Andrew Clare, associate dean for the MSc programme at Cass Business School, part of City University London, where around 1,300 students are coming to the end of 16 different Masters programmes. Such courses are attractive to recent graduates for two reasons: first, because they offer the chance to enhance a CV in a way that might make that crucial difference in a job search. And second, because they offer a fruitful and purposeful way of riding out another 12 months when the employment market looks likely to remain shaky. Before the turn of the millennium, the postgraduate business education scene was dominated by the MBA (Master of Business Administration), viewed by many as the Rolls-Royce qualification for aspirant business leaders. But since then, another type of Masters qualification has established a strong presence in the market, often referred to colloquially as a Masters in Business and Management (MBM). Both types of course are now recognised by the leading UK-based business education accrediting body, the Association of MBAs (Amba), and listed in full on its website (www.mbaworld.com). However, Amba draws a clear dividing line between the two qualifications. “The key difference is that the MBA is a post-experience programme,” says Mark Stoddard, accreditation projects manager at Amba. “We demand that MBA programmes receiving our accreditation take only students with a minimum of three years’ management experience. “The MBM, which we started accrediting only in 2005, is very much a starter qualification aimed at people coming straight out of their Bachelor degree and looking to get a qualification so that they can go into the market as an employable person.” Both types of qualification cover the core elements of general management, including finance, marketing, strategy, leadership and human resource management. But while the MBM approach is aimed at beginners, MBA programmes assume knowledge already acquired at the workplace. In fact, many MBA students have considerable seniority in one aspect of business, or in one industrial sector, and want to augment that with knowledge and skills across the entire area of general business management. One slightly confusing aspect is that, although the MBM designation is a recognised generic term to describe management Masters qualifications for those coming directly from first degrees, exact course descriptions vary. So, among the Amba-accredited programmes are, for example, an MA in business management at Kingston University London, an MSc in business and management at University of Strathclyde’s Business School, and Cass Business School’s MSc in management. And on most of these courses, participants come from a variety of academic backgrounds. “Our MSc students come from a wide range of degree courses,” says Clare. “Mainly arts, but also technology areas, economics and accounting.” Fees for business Masters courses can vary greatly. At Manchester, for example, they range from £6,500 for an MSc in HR management and industrial relations to nearly £19,000 for the MSc in quantitative finance: risk management. And, as a general rule, fees for MBAs are higher than those for courses aimed at less experienced students. Whatever the cost, though, Masters courses clearly represent a substantial investment of time and money, for which most students expect to see a return in terms of employment prospects. Business schools recognise this, and usually provide background support and guidance to help students to maximise their chances. — By arrangement with
The Independent
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Campus
Notes PROFESSOR M. S.
Hundal, Dean, College Development Council of Guru Nanak Dev University, has been appointed in charge of the newly established Bebe Nanaki University College at Mithra in Sultanpur Lodhi subdivision of Kapurthala district by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. A. S.
Brar. Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar of the university, said Prof. Hundal had been given additional charge of the college to oversee its routine work with immediate effect. Eligibility test on August 8
Guru Nanak Dev University will hold an eligibility test for admission to Ph.D degree courses for the session 2010-11 in certain subjects on August 8. The last date for the online submission of applications is July 23. Dr A. K.
Thukral, Director Research of the university, said the candidates with a master's degree in the relevant or the allied subject with 55 per cent marks (50 per cent in case of SC/ST) or those who had appeared in the master's degree final year exam would be eligible to appear in the test. He said the minimum qualifying marks for the test had been fixed at 50 per cent. The syllabus for the eligibility test for admission to Ph.D. programme would be the same as prescribed by the
UGC-NET respective regulatory bodies. Dr Thukral said the test would only be a qualifying examination and the other conditions would be same as laid down in the prevailing ordinances for the Ph.D. programme of the university. He said each application form should be submitted online with an application fee of Rs 1000 (for General Category) and Rs 500 (for SC/ST category) to be deposited in any branch of the State Bank of Patiala through the university websites, www.gndu.ac.in and
www.gnduadmissions.org. No test will be conducted for the subjects of commerce and business management, Hindi, Urdu/Persian, religious studies, Punjabi, architecture, political science, Sanskrit and education courses, for which students with
UGC-NET or those who have done M.Phil from the university will be admitted, he said. Orientation course concludes
General Orientation Course-83 organised by the Academic Staff College
(ASC) of the university concluded here yesterday. Dr M. S. Hundal, Dean, College Development Council, was the chief guest on the occasion. While congratulating the participants, Dr Hundal said the challenges before higher education today were far from those what used to be about a decade ago. Lauding the role of the university and college teachers in higher education, he said the teachers should become a role model for the students rather than following the instructions or information being provided by others. Dr Satish Verma, Director,
ASC, explained the methodology and objectives of the course in the light of the guidelines issued by the UGC from time to time. He pointed out that punctuality, regularity, participation, interaction, purposefulness on the part of teacher participants were the requisites for becoming good teachers. — Contributed by P. K. Jaiswar
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GOOD results in an examination are usually considered as sine qua non of teacher effectiveness. But it is not the whole truth. Earning respect of students, parents’ feelings and a teacher’s own behaviour towards students, community and administration also count for his effectiveness in and outside the classroom. It is commonly seen that the community makes itself assertive in one way or the other as and when anything goes wrong.