Ethical Strategies

http://vanishree26.blogspot.in/2012/11/strategy-and-utilitarianism.html

This site talks about the need to bring in an attitudinal change in strategic policies in business, class room, work spot and at personal level.

Beating below the belt to hit direct or indirect enemies at work spot sounds very romantic. The strategist feels like a hero and a smirk appears on his winning face. He has just created one more block on his path of progress that might block his movement later in life. Ethical planning and inter-personal practices take an individual a long way.

It is time MBA Courses began theorizing on ethical strategies to be practiced at work places.

As for as business is concerned, unethical practices have become signs of super smartness. Amoral business strategies have become recognized practices. We have to study the repercussions, stress accumulation of these practices.

Statecraft and business-craft have  to involve certain objective and ethical pursuits.

In a class room the teacher has to become aware of students' strategies. The teacher has to make sure he is not fooled by a smart strategist. Similarly, a manager should not fall prey to the insinuations of smart strategists.

We have to become aware of the strategies of the business world,  family members, colleagues etc.

Utilitarian strategists are usually the people who operate any negotiations.

It is high time we become aware of the limitations of strategies too.

Strategic management of our amoral lives

We live by strategies. Lord Krishna and even before God Rama have all been great strategists. Kannagi has acted more on emotions, it looks in comparison. Effective strategies have come from the North. If we compare Kautilya with Thiruvalluvar, the former is more strategic whereas the latter is more ethical. The impact of the Northern thought on our minds is very great. Accordingly, self-protection is the fundamental nature of our minds.

We have institutionalized social hierarchy to protect the rich and the powerful. The motive of this system is to protect the individual. At every level a person has some one to boss over and fulfill his egoistic needs. The system has kept the woman at the bottom of its ladder. 

To survive this social system of amorality, every one of us quite naturally become amoral ourselves. We know  powerful people victimize  the powerless to further strengthen themselves. This is an accepted law of amorality. The model of 'social responsibility' is foreign to our mind. Every person born in this sub-continent, no matter to what race, region, caste, class, religion , gender they belong to,  is part of this scheme of self-protection. Of late  we use the term 'corruption' when we see this quality in government officials, politicians or 'others'. When we live by the same amorality we call it 'necessity.' 

Smart individuals ploy, scheme, play multiple games, insinuate, play act and our society permits success only to these strategic people. The colonial encounter has given us words like 'commitment, dedication, sincerity to work, welfare state, equality, mutual respect and impartiality'. We use these words as fine rhetoric. Colonialism has not touched our inner core. Hierarchy has strengthened itself further with these new words. 'English' has become a strategic weapon for social forces to keep them in power. 

The best rhetoric we can continuously hear is 'how in foreign countries work atmosphere recognises merit.' We not only reject merit, but manage to paint it as stupid and unimportant. The best IAS officers are almost always given unimportant portfolios. There is something in us that resists honesty in work and honesty in progress. Some individuals always manage to play smart games and strengthen their positions at others' expense. 

It could be because of our deep rooted belief system exhibiting in our myths and epics. We advocate strategies  to live. In such a case we have to begin to accept our nature. We have to be so alert that anytime any one will let us down. As a concept 'detachment' helps us to live with high alertness.

Janaga Maharaja was considered to be a Raja Rishi who could strategically rule a country and be detached from his power and position as a sage. This is the model our society has given us.

At a materialistic level, detachment becomes a powerful strategy to live in an amoral society.  It will reduce our unnecessary stress in social relationships as we are haunted by the fear of being cheated by the 'other' person. 'Detachment' is the remedy given by our past intellectual thought to meet the challenges of social networking.

Instead of taking steps to build an equal and just society our past has prepared us to strategically manage  social lives. There lies the point.

Now, are going to turn ourselves more ethical? Or, are we going to continue with 'detachment' to strategically manage amorality? 

ஆங்கிலமும் பெண்களும்

எங்கள் வகுப்பில்  நாங்கள் எல்லோரும் மிகவும் பயப்படும் ஒரு டீச்சர்  ஒரு நாள் 'நான் மஜுரா போய் வந்தேன்' என்றார். ஒரு மாதம் கழித்துத் தான் தெரிந்தது அவர் மதுரையைப் பற்றித்தான் குறிப்பிட்டார் என்பது.

மதுரையை ஸ்டைலாகச்  சொல்வதாக நினைத்து அப்படிக்கூறியிருக்கிறார் என்பது பின்னர் புரிந்தது. ஸ்டைல் என்றால் ஆங்கில உச்சரிப்பு என்பது ஓர் தவிர்க்க முடியாத எண்ண அலை. 

அப்போதும் இப்போதும் ஊர்ப்பக்கங்களில் எல்லாம் ஆங்கிலம் என்றால் ஒரு மரியாதை தான். 

ஆங்கிலம் கலந்து பேசுவதை ஒரு கலையாக, ஒரு சக்தியாக, ஒரு மரியாதைச் சின்னமாகப்   பெண்கள் பயன்படுத்திக்கொண்டார்கள். 

அழகு என்ற சக்தியை மட்டுமே ஆயுதமாகக் கொண்ட பெண்டிர்  ஆங்கிலம் என்ற சக்தியை உபயோகிக்க ஆரம்பித்தனர்.

ஒரு புது விதியை ஆங்கிலம் உருவாக்கியது. ஆங்கிலம் அடுப்படியில் இருந்த பெண்ணுக்கு உலகைக் காட்டியது. அவள்  நிமிரக் காரணமானது. 

ஆங்கிலம் பேசும் பெண்ணிற்கு திமிர் அதிகம் என்னும் எண்ணம்  அவளைப்பார்த்து ஏற்படும் பயத்தின் விளைவே.   

Class room management - handling class-created rebels

Two decades ago a college class room would have a handful of students who would rebel against teachers. These students had a framework of operation. They would be as soft as breeze in a knowledgeable teacher's class and as violent as a storm in a un-knowledgeable teacher's class. Outside the class room they were polite to the knowledgeable teacher and bullied the un-knowledgeable teacher.


Today there has been a paradigm shift in the frame work of the students because of the knowledge exposure. Students are no more worried about gaining knowledge from the teacher. The brilliant student has read much better books/internet sites and is bored in the class room. The average/below average student needs no 'explanations', rather he wants 'notes' to pass.

The current rebel categories:

1. A teacher has to be  interestingly knowledgeable; have excellent communication skills; have  a proper quantity of rhetoric skills. Otherwise  the brilliant student becomes a rebel.

2. A teacher has to be  capable of explaining the most difficult concepts in a simple manner; give simple illustrations; give simple, memorisable notes. Otherwise, the average/below average student becomes a rebel.

All said and done, a teacher plays a very significant role in creating/removing rebels. A rebel once created tries to practice the style in every class.

How do we tackle these class-created rebels?

The brilliant rebels

1. Illustrations carrying a variety of emotions: Every teacher has to train himself in collecting illustration to explain concepts. Each concept can be explained each time with a different illustration. Each time the subject is revised the teacher can change the illustration. These illustrations can be drawn from the popular culture/serious philosophy. That is, the illustrations must alternate in emotions. they should be humorous at times, sarcastic at times, ethical at times etc. The emotions should vary. The lecture should be so interesting  that the brilliant student must feel that the internet notes are boring.

2. High quality notes:  The brilliant student needs challenges. therefor the notes prepared must be complex, complete in knowledge.

3. Extra reading assignments: The teacher has to make these students realise their intellectual potential. They have to be reminded again and again that this god-given potential has to be cultivated by reading. Also they have to be taught the ethics of contributing to society. There is a need to be humble and hardworking. Intelligence will not be of any use if it is not backed up with hard work. Biographies of great leaders/scientists will be handy and the teacher can quickly talk about anecdotes in a minute. Names of books have to be given in every class to this group. Relentlessly the teacher has to monitor their reading, keep asking them to come to the front of the class to talk about what they have read.

4. Building rapport:  The teacher has to remember that intelligent minds are easily bored. So he should never lose his eye contact with these students.  Books can be discussed other than the prescribed ones everyday. It is smart to keep these students mentally closer to the teacher.


The average rebels

1. Simple notes: The teacher can prepare remedial notes. Give these notes in the beginning of the semester itself. So that they can keep studying everyday. For a student who is not comfortable with English, this practice will be a great service. Because memorizing the points takes time.

2. Checking illustrations:  The teacher has to make sure the illustrations do not hurt the weak students. They have to be treated just as the brilliant ones are treated.

3. Simple assignments:  The teacher can give assignments that are picture oriented rather than concept oriented. The best thing to do is to give  broad options for the entire class: PPTs, E-Mails, hand written, Charts, Printed, minimum one page to maximum 10 pages etc. Each category assignments have to be applauded only if they have the expected quality. It is better to be strict in evaluation. The students will gradually 'rise' to the teacher's expectation. It might take even a full semester to reach this point. Out of 50 students who are average, of 5 students do well, it is great success for the teacher.

4. Rapport:  Most of the times the teacher divides the class into two groups: studying and not-studying. This paves way for building rebels. The studying group becomes 'over-confident' and the not-studying group become 'demotivated.' A rapport can be built with the average students by giving them responsibilities. Initially they will not perform as they might not trust this new 'attitude' in a teacher.  The teacher has to keep on trying and one by one these students will come around. This is made possible by making the class understand that different kind of 'intelligences' exist: academic, sports, fine-arts, organisational, leadership, financial etc. It must be made very clear that all students are  equal no matter what their background, marks, personality and class performance. This will eliminate rebel behaviour in the average students. It will build their self-esteem and confidence. Most of the times rebels are students who need sincere attention.


To remove rebellious behaviour from the class room the teacher needs the following:

1. Knowledge with the latest updates

2. Thorough preparation

3. Respect for the teaching profession

4. Respect for students

5. Well defined goals for the class. Ex: All should pass, Every one should speak English, Should get the sports cup, should get the fine arts cup, at least one University rank etc.

6. An awareness of the limitations of  knowledge,  the drawbacks of intelligence as a tool, the imperfectness of human knowledge systems etc.

7. Ability to apply concepts to real life situations

8. Faith in life

An interesting and knowledgeable class room

Great teachers are born  and not made  just like poets. 

This noblest of professions is actually an art. 

Still, we can learn the strategies from some of our great teachers and practice them.

Art is polished with ritualistic practices. Craftsmanship requires hard work, careful preparation and continuous practice.

Every leader/manager/administrator/mentor has to know his strengths and weaknesses to manage others. The teacher plays all these roles in the class room. 

There are many areas where the teacher should know his position.

1. Knowledge/Reading/updating

The wise man knows he knows only little; even all the knowledge the Mankind has acquired is still very little compared to the immense ignorance we are grappling with everyday.

Thiruvalluvar says in Chapter 85 'Pullari vannmai':  The arrogance of thinking we 'know' is the greatest stupidity.


We all would have had teachers who became extremely harsh with students to hide their lack of  scholarship. They hurt as a strategy to protect themselves.

2. Communication Skills

Chapter 65 in Thirukkural discusses communication skills. It is called 'Sol Vanmai'.

Chapter 20 discusses how to avoid unnecessary talks. It is called 'Payanila Sollamai.'

The teacher has to communicate his knowledge in an effective manner.

1. The key concepts have to be defined clearly. 
2. Then they have to be explained with suitable illustrations drawn from contemporary life. 
3. Finally the key concepts have to be explained once again. 
4. In the following classes whenever possible the teacher has to bring back this definition for a minute or two. 
5. This is a linear pattern. If there are 25 definitions they would be constantly touched by the teacher effectively that all the students become familiar with the concepts.
6. These repetitions can be made interesting if each time a definition is brought back, the teacher can use a different illustration from popular culture like the media.
7. Round about speaking, insinuations will confuse the listener.
8. Ordering points is a good pattern.
9. Illustrations must be chosen carefully. It can have extra meanings. Value based illustrations have to be discussed. 
10. Speech/talks should bind the listeners together. Eye contact and a friendly expression is a must for every teacher.
11. The teacher has to listen to every word he speaks; he should be aware of every expression that comes to his face; he should consciously observe his thoughts as he is teaching. A man who goes on talking without listening to his words will be a bore.
12. Effective introductions; effective key points; effective summaries; effective analyses are the pillars of a knowledgeable and interesting class room

3. Knowledge of the self

'Know thyself' said Socrates. It is the most difficult thing in life. 

Each person has a distinct configuration. It gets modified with experiences, how the mind is receiving these experiences and how it interacts with other people.

This process is life that is permanent on one side and flexible on the other side. This dual quality is the biggest challenge that blocks our understanding of our selves. Dwaita philosophy considers life as dualistic. Existentialism studies this dual nature of mankind. 

We often complain about others how they have changed. It is essential we become aware of the changes that keep happening on our personality.

One has to develop a sense of self-observation to emerge as an effective professional.

Of all the professions, teaching exposes the leader to a large number of students who watch him minutely and critique later. Every expression that slips from the teacher gives a message to the student. Most of the times, students might even misunderstand these messages coming to wrong conclusions. The teacher has to become aware of these messages given by his body, words etc. to have command over himself. 

An effective understanding of the Self gives the teacher more confidence and authority. 

4. Knowledge of the students' minds

Chapter 71 in Thirukkural discusses extensively how we can read minds from facial expressions, especially the eye. It is called 'Kurippu Arithal'.

1. One should learn to read silences
2. One should learn to read the heart
3. The eye must keep travelling to look at every face and understand its thoughts
4. The face is like a marble piece that reflects thoughts
5. The face has to be studied carefully
6. One should respond to sadness on faces instantly
7. The face will tell if the listener is a friend or enemy. Accordingly one should plan strategies.
8. The finest metric system to understand human mind is the eye.

The teacher has to keep assessing the students as he is teaching. If a student's eye shifts it is time for a humorous anecdote; if there is a yawn, it is time to bring in an interesting illustration; if there is murmur, it is time the students are given time to speak; if there is passivity, it is time to given an activity etc.

The primary school teacher in Matriculation schools

A third standard child's painting done on the computer

What is the social position of an Indian primary school teacher? 

Primary teaching  has become the most difficult and un-recognized work given to the progress of society which is thankless to its primary school teachers. These teachers do not even get 20% salary of a Professor working at a University. We think the primary teacher's job can be done by any graduate while the University 'contributes' to society. The foundation of our education itself needs to be looked at more closely. We have to understand the implications of government policies on  education. 

How have these teachers built a new generation of engineers, doctors, lawyers, charted accountants, scientists and so on and so on? 

What are the value systems, belief patterns, ethical standards that have been given by these teachers to the educated class of our country? 

Do we know the belief patterns put by these teachers in the minds of children probably can never be erased, and will direct them the rest of their lives?

Do we know children pick up language structures from teachers and  find it very difficult to change them later?

The young teachers, usually just out of college of higher secondary schools  working in Matriculation schools  find it very difficult to tackle the city bred children.These children are computer savvy, are comfortable with English and the internet and in some families are exposed to news analysis too. They have a highly individualistic approach to life, treated as equals by educated parents. They have a well developed mind of their own, and refuse to believe things if they are not convinced.

Are the teachers equipped enough to cater to the needs of these next generation students?

The issues faced by teachers:

1. Pressure from the Management to produce 'high marks', 'neat class work notes', 'neat home work notes, 'neat test notes' and now 'neat assignments or projects'. Every work of the child should be 'neat'. It has to be 'perfect'. Every day hundreds of notes have to be 'corrected'. Can they be actually 'corrected'?

2.  Pressure from parents, especially  young mothers. These mothers meet the class teachers regularly and  interrogate the class teachers why their wards have not scored 100 marks in all subjects. Class work notes have to 'corrected' and should be without mistakes.

3. There are no hours allotted to value education in classes.

4. There are no hours allotted to play, as either the school has no grounds, or because it has not appointed no games teacher.

5. There are no handicrafts or arts class; no music classes; no painting classes within the official time-table. Both the Management ans the parents do not want them. The pent up energy of children get frustrated and the class teacher bears the bent of these emotions everyday. 

6. The mixed group of children- some brilliant and over-informative, some normal, some slow

7. Medium of instruction is English. This is a problem for most of the teachers. 

Higher Education has to build a negotiation with Primary education. We have to call primary teachers to discuss policies.

Millenial generation teachers

Today's teacher meets the following challenges:

1. Highly knowledgeable students

2. Students from well-established families paying heavily for education

3. Students opposite to the above mentioned category

4. UGC's expectation of academic excellence in Paper presentations, journal publications etc.

5. Student's expectation of an interesting class room

6. Teaching in a foreign language that is almost first language to some, second language to some and strange language to many

7. Result analysis based on examination performance

8. Expectation from placement angle; spoken English; personality development etc.

9. Tackling the syllabus within a time-schedule

10. Never called for any meetings that decide the curriculum


Are we going to address these issues?

The teacher is overburdened. Many teachers have become thoroughly frustrated. Many have lost interest in teaching.

How are we planning to attract the best minds to the class room to teach?

Classroom management 3. Knowledge empowerment - at the urban level

In today's  world of information where city  students are dumped with information day  in and out, they expect a teacher in the class to help them use the information and customize it and relate it to syllabus/subject. The urban students at the Higher education sector and Secondary level are obsessed with abundant information which distracts them in class when the same is delivered by the teacher without analysis. The teacher has to empower himself or herself to handle this issue. Knowledge empowerment is the key to handle the distraction in this millennium students.

How do teachers  empower themselves with knowledge?

Thirukkural handles this issue in chapter 72 called 'Avai Anjaamai'.  The poet says 'to associate with people who are more knowledgeable to learn from them'.

As  Thiruvalluvar says we can stay connected with scholars and that will help build  knowledge as at a point it  might  clear doubts  and thus increase learning opportunities. The suggestion here is that one should have a thirst for continuous learning and thus empower and help assimilate existing knowledge resources. It might help them with more illustration and more scope for practical application of concepts.This will make teaching interesting in the classroom for the  students as now empowered teacher brings in rare insights into the subject which the students would not be able to understand on his own. Thus the teacher becomes an academic leader helping the students understand the fine aspects of information. The teacher guides the student into the pleasure of self learning. Ultimately the teacher helps students convert information into knowledge.

How does the teacher practice knowledge empowerment in an easy way?

Teachers can cultivate professional relationship with their colleagues and create a knowledge atmosphere in their departments to discuss the latest updates quite naturally.  Knowledge sharing has become easy than ever before with the help of technology. Social networking platforms like Facebook,twitter, blogs, Linked-in etc can be used effectively for knowledge sharing.

Class Room Management - 2. A leader has to read minds

In the Indian class room where the teacher stands symbolizing authority and administrator, observation becomes an essential skill for the teacher and student apart serious listening.

Foucault, the French post structuralist philosopher has discussed in detail the nuances of human communication systems in his book 'Archaeology of Knowledge.' 

Systems of thought and knowledge are discursive, says Foucault. They are governed by rules beyond grammar and logic. They operate beneath the consciousness of individual subjects. They discuss the conceptual possibilities of a given space and time. 

In a class room a knowledge atmosphere is created by the teacher that in turn stimulates more thoughts, new consciousness, and builds a certain emotionally charged scene of learning. Our students with our traditional attitude to the teachers will remain silent throughout the class. Hence the discursive elements have to be studied carefully by the teacher. 

Thiruvalluvar calls this act in chapter 71 as 'Kuripparithal' in his second part 'Wealth' where he defines the act of communication. He refers to this  as  'Kuuraamai Nookki'. Every Indian teacher has to learn to 'read' the silences of his students. Or any Administrator or leader requires this skill of observing the minute shifts in human expressions, the flashing eyes, the mild smirk that appears and disappears, the little too quick smile, or the dead passive expressionless eyes.

The Banyan Tree - a painting - oil on canvas by my Dad S. Chellaiah who paints only nature

A leader with this ability to read human thoughts is an asset to this world, says Thiruvalluvar. 

In Mahabharatham it is said how Arjunan could communicate with all the species of the world. It becomes essential that future leaders learn to communicate with not only fellow human beings, but also with all the species of this earth. Foucault brings forward a philosophy that recognizes all kinds of living creatures. Thiruvalluvar demands that such leaders with the capacity to read fellow minds perfectly well should be put in charge of important positions.

Reading mind is reading discursive expressions. Thiruvalluvar puts this down to the 'eyes'. He says that there is no other tool than the eyes to measure the human heart. A smart teacher will hold his students' attention just be communicating through eyes. He has to receive the thoughts and direct them towards the concepts being discussed. 

As Foucault says one need not try to fix this communication within the usual rules of logic or grammar. Reading minds and linking thoughts will bring maximum silent interaction between the teacher and the student. It opens the possibilities for more learning, and more understanding and also will channelize students' energy towards a specific goal. 

At the same time the teacher has to be cautious about what he is communicating to his students through his eyes. Self-management is one of the basic requirements for this profession. If a teacher likes/hates his students a little too much, the consequences would be many. 

An awareness of the discursive elements in human expressions will help teachers acquire more command and respect if not love from  all the students.