The teacher as a manager

McKinsey's 7-S Framework applied to teaching

Strategy: To achieve overall development of students

Structure: Responsibilities allotted to class leaders, group leaders etc.

Systems:  Meetings with these leaders to plan, take decisions

Staff: Selecting individuals who have aptitudes for particular works

Skills:  Recognising individual abilities

Styles: Leading students towards success by motivation

Shared values: Goals like mastery of subject, personality development etc.

Organisational behaviour and the class room

The scope to 'read' a class room as an organization

Uncovering hidden aspects of the class room

The class teacher needs strategies, objectives, policies, procedures, structure, technology, formal authority, chain of command etc. OB can help to discover attitudes, perceptions, group norms, informal relationships, interpersonal and intergroup conflict etc. 

Explaining and predicting behaviour of students

OB helps teachers behave as do in class rooms, why students in groups behave differently from individuals acting alone, why a certain amount of conflict is healthy for a class room, why people skills are very important for a teacher. Teachers will perform better if they understand the behavioural pattern of students.

Acquiring 'student' skills

OB helps us learn more about 'students'' behaviour. Students can distract the class from its professed path by engaging in conflicts and misunderstandings, or they can pool their diverse talents and perspectives to achieve much more as a group. By understanding what causes students to behave as they do, teachers can exercise leadership to achieve positive results.

Formulating informed judgements

OB can help formulating an informed judgement that can be derived from tenable assumptions. The important variables underlying the situations can be understood. Due recognition to the complexity of individual or group behaviour can be given. The teacher's own goals for the class, motives also can be analysed

The winner takes it all

                            

                                                ABBA  

                               "The Winner Takes It All"

I don't wanna talk
About things we've gone through
Though it's hurting me
Now it's history
I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser's standing small
Beside the victory
That's her destiny

I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence
Building me a home
Thinking I'd be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw the dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear
The winner takes it all
The loser has to fall
It's simple and it's plain
Why should I complain?

But tell me does she kiss
Like I used to kiss you?
Does it feel the same
When she calls your name?
Somewhere deep inside
You must know I miss you
But what can I say?
Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide
The likes of me abide
Spectators of the show
Always staying low
The game is on again
A lover or a friend
A big thing or a small
The winner takes it all

I don't wanna talk
If it makes you feel sad
And I understand
You've come to shake my hand
I apologize
If it makes you feel bad
Seeing me so tense
No self-confidence
But you see
The winner takes it all
The winner takes it all...

................................................................................................................................

This is the western way to approach life.  Whether it is a 'game' or 'love' one has to win. Goal-setting is born out of this need. The greed to 'win' has created an environment crisis. Today's India has a breed of ambitious individuals who want to 'win' and have become corrupt to achieve power, money etc. Every organization has people of this category. They set 'goals' and want to achieve it by crooked methods. 

This is called materialism. That is, we go 'after' materials like cars, houses, positions that give power over others, etc. This way of approaching life can be of enormous harm to the soul. It leads to spiritual emptiness. Much earlier in the 1920s itself  T.S. Eliot called such men as 'hollow men' who are 'stuffed'. He called this civilization a 'wasteland'. Modern technological society has pushed men and women towards more and more materialism. India is now caught in this globalised stream of fear to become a super power. 

What is this 'winning?' Can we win nature? Can every one be the first in every thing? Why should we have power over others?

 'Winning' is the need of an insecure mind. The winner taking 'all' is only a viewpoint. No one can take 'all' from this enormous universe. It has a plenty for every one. 

Life is beautiful as it is, even when society does not consider you a 'winner'. 

Academic ethics

Do academics need ethical practices?

Can we assume the academic world is ethical?

What are the significant areas where ethics will have to be reinforced?



Let me try identifying a few:

Teachers 

1. Effective reading with frequent updating

2. Impartiality to students - respecting them - being strict and focused

3. Avoiding character assassination of students

4. Avoiding character assassination of colleagues

5. Avoiding going on leave without proper reasons

Management/government etc.

6. Appointing well-qualified teachers for vacancies and taking efforts to retain 'effective' teachers

7. Not over- taxing teachers by asking them to 'substitute'

8. Not allotting too much of 'clerical work' to teachers

9.  A reasonably 'good' pay

10.  Result analysis at two levels - character and marks

11. Student feed back [oral] analysis

12. Checking if there has been any academic mobility [if students have improved from 'bad' to 'good']

13. To evolve a grievance - redressal system for teachers

14. One-to - one meetings with teachers

Neeya Naana - English and Indians

The recent show in 'Neeya Naana' took up the issue of English at its various levels of usage. People use it to 'show off', 'improve knowledge', 'come up in life' etc.

I was reminded of my grand mother. She knew a lot of verses from Kamba Ramayanam, Periya Puranam and other classical works. I must tell you that she taught herself to read and write. Those days, that is almost a hundred years ago,  in Kanya Kumari District Hindu women were not sent to schools established by the Missionaries.

British Protestant women came to villages and taught women to do embroidery, stitching etc. Today we are talking about colonised minds. But then the women looked at the British women as 'door openers.' My grand mother was one such women who wanted to become independent like the 'western' women.

Indians  probably think  only English people opened avenues. Schools in Kanya Kumari District have changed the District's quality of life.

What are the repercussions of this education?

Without this education would we have lived better?

Can we 'use' English as an Indian National language?

Can we 'use' English as a global language that has stored all kinds of knowledge?


The indirect  reasons for the English wave could be:

1. Social mobility

2. Nation/State

English and the computer have brought women to the economic forefront in India. The old concept of 'warrior' any way does not hold any value in real life, as technology is now the 'great warrior'. Therefore in modern life English that is the global language and English that is the internet language will be used by women as tools for achieving success. This could be one of the reasons why it is always women who are more 'particular' about English and its pronunciation.

English has become a politically powerful language and Indians are now not much interested in the literature of the country from which the language came from. Instead the average Indian wants to learn it as he would learn a technology.

When I took BA English literature in 1985 I loved English literature. We enjoyed reading prose, poetry, novels, short stories etc. that depicted 'English' culture.  In 2012 students opt for BA English to get a smart job. They are 'culturally' away from Britain. They are closer to America through Hollywood.

Today's English no more represents England. It is instead a language of 'communication' to tackle the practical world.

Class room management

The western theories have been talking about the 'facilitator.'

Where is the facilitator in Indian class rooms?

The other day I addressed a B.Ed class of 98 students for one and half hours.  I am sure these students would have been 'exposed' to all westernized theories of class room management. I expected open discussions, interactions, questions and other such democratic social happenings.

Such things do not naturally 'happen' in our Indian class rooms. This has always been my hypothesis. Again it turned out to be true.

Our students and teachers are from a hierarchical society. They cannot practice 'open discussion' as casually as we see in western countries.

Even when a few students 'do' speak in a class, the rest of the class watch it with a kind of 'distaste' that can either be a smirk or inferiority. All said an done we 'respect' the silence more than noise in class rooms.

Long back a teacher wrote a few lines about me. These lines are significant as they sum up the Indian teacher-student relationship.

The teacher wrote: '...[I] was a serious student listening to classes with a grave understanding showing great depth of mind..'

That explains the Indian class room.

Now our task is to build theories to describe this reality of our educational practices. 'Listening, memorizing, repeating and repeating' have been the pillars of Indian educational system for millenniums.

Tackling the hierarchical attitudes in our mind and customizing them in the class room is a very big challenge we face today.

Norway arrest

Indians look at parenting as a responsible, authoritative affair. We save money for our children, educate them, give dowry for our girls and keep properties for our boys. We do not send them away to tend for themselves.

We agree that our hierarchical attitudes have created the caste system which makes us appear like cruel beings.  We are taking positive steps to change our attitudes regarding this weak area. But at the same time, the same hierarchical attitudes have created a strict family system where the father is the boss. The children are expected to obey the parents.

If parents are going to be arrested for mistakes, it is  a very scary affair for parenting. Then, there are so many repercussions for this 'new' perception of equality. For example, people might just as well lose interest in starting families and toil for bringing up children. in today's global scenario parenting has become a very costly affair. If people can live without the social need to 'parenting'  they probably will opt out. They will start using their money for their own pleasure.

Indian parents invest enormous amount of money in the higher education of their children. All this might stop if people get scared of parenting. Instead of imprisonment, the parents can be counselled. Capitalism, democracy and globalization have put a lot of pressure on parenting jobs and parents need a lot of counselling and support from society. Imprisonment is very discouraging.

Now, how will the concerned parents will 'feel' towards the concerned children?

Parenting has to be approached with more sensitivity.



http://filtercoffeeshoppoetry.blogspot.in/ 

The drive for luxury and feminism

The greed for 'Malling' and shopping has been on steady rise in this global culture.  Throwing a party, wearing branded clothes, grooming the body and face are today's symbols of power.

The women in society have brought more money to the family and children are enjoying the material benefits. Feminism has brought in material wealth to homes. Globalization and computers and English have brought more money into men's pockets and again children have benefited.

World cinema and the satellite television have brought brand culture to the living room. 'Free hair' that appears good on pictures taken by  2D cameras have become the hall mark of 'style'.

Very few youngsters understand how they are caught by the web of consumerism at a global level. Social culture is no more the culture of families. It is the culture of the globe.

The 'family system' is in crisis challenged by 'individualism'. Now the individual wants to live according to his wishes. Words like 'adjusting' have begun to disappear from the youth's vocabulary.

The 'new' money power has helped the youth to respect their wishes. It might take a decade or two for them to understand the limitations of 'individualism' and 'materialism'.

The role of English in creating global culture has to be studied with reference to television and movies. The role of computers and material wealth creation also has to be studied. The role of women in these areas have to be studied. The role of  women empowerment and materialistic wealth has to be studied.

http://filtercoffeeshoppoetry.blogspot.in/

Impact of globalization

Policies  in an amoral democratic society will surely tend to favour the highly privileged wealthy class who protect their economic, social securities with these policies. The westernized intellectuals have no contact with the core Indian economic truths. Economic theories written in costly papers with fine binding and language that is perceived to be elite with top elitist bibliographies do not reflect the poor Indian farmer/entrepreneur/ and the average man who is pushed towards exasperation and hence suicide. For him all the doors are locked.

The pulses and cereals and even rice were bought at a nominal rate 10 years ago. One fine day the Malls came into the picture in the name of pan-Indian economic growth. They came with big warehouses. Products were stocked and the price rocketed. The farmer grows only one product. He has to buy the rest in the market. How can he buy these fine-packeted items competing with his city neighbour who is paid in thousands or even in lakhs per month?

Look at the servant class's state of affairs. The liquor shops are open till midnight and the men throw their money there. How will women buy products that are branded, marketed with brand ambassadors in a super market?

Indian elite bankers and economists come from top schools and colleges representing the upper middle class. They have not read Ruskin's 'Unto This Last' or have chosen not to read it. There is no ethical value in the current economic policies.

We expect something from the globally recognized economists of our country to take policies that will benefit even the poor people.

There is a paradigm shift taking place as every day the middle class is losing its social security and is becoming the poor class. Building great malls, constructing artificial ideas of white skin and beauty, constructing windowless glass offices, creating traffic jam every second with millions of closed cars have become symbols of super power.

Knowledgeable and wise people have to reconsider these symbols. We need visionary leaders and policy makers who will re-draft our aims as a nation.

I hope such people are still around.