A dispassionate look at faculty development in India

Albert Einstein had said:
(Quote) "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." (Unquote)

And therein we can find our problems related to faculty development in India. It is, therefore, worth pondering:

• How might we create the environment for encouraging thought leadership?

As shared in my earlier post about the approach needed to create a contemporary learning environment, I repeat another one of Einstein's famous quotes: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

All institutions have problems and if we go back in time it is also easy to identify what or who created the problems that we are both individually and collectively facing today. But identification of the problem creator is not the purpose of this post. Rather, I hope that we take a different kind of approach to come out of these problems (as mentioned in my earlier post on creating a 21^st century learning experience).

Hence, it is worth pondering over some of the following HMWs:

• How might we create an academic environment that retains faculty for participating happily in the development of our schools?
• How might we redesign our approach to curriculum development and delivery to center around the needs and desires of our teachers and students? [Earlier post: DTE Toolkit Pg4]
• How might we redesign our school to elevate student engagement and academic outcomes? [Earlier post, DTE Toolkit Pg5]
• How might we create the environment that attracts faculty to participate proactively (without any fear) to create a vibrant learning environment?
• ….and more..

Universities should be hallmarks for creating a more humane work environment so much necessary in developing great institutions. It is important, therefore, to start the academic year with empathy towards fellow colleagues and students who are facing difficulties in our work environment.

I end this note by inviting attention to these two links from te@chthought & The Teaching Professor:

• Why Good Teachers Quit?  [22 Oct 2013, by Kay Bisaillon, Teacher] 
• What Is Teaching without Learning? [17 June 2015, By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD]

 

How might we create a 21st century learning experience at our school?

The above subject header (title of this post) is as relevant now as it was in FDP-2012 - as instantiated in this blogpost [Bottom line: Organizations need to exploit the transformative power of design thinking through appreciative inquiry.] 
Here is one useful toolkit for those interested in advancing their careers in education: Design Thinking for Educators  (The title of this blog post is from Page-3 of this toolkit)

An excerpt from this toolkit:

As Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” [Pg7]

There are problems (including some wicked ones) around us. Hopefully, organizations in India will open up to seeing that the problems in and around them can indeed be solved by applying the principles of design thinking (which emphasizes the importance of collective problem solving through empathy). In an educational setup this collective effort revolves around the learner (i.e., both the student and the teacher/facilitator).

Another excerpt:
Design thinking is a creative act and lets teachers understand that the act of creating a really effective learning environment is an art that is both reflective and intentional. If we want to change education and learning to make it more relevant, more effective and more enjoyable for all involved, teachers need to be the entrepreneurial designers and redesigners of the “systems” of schools and of the schools themselves. [Pg8]

So...the first step in Design Thinking: Start Empathy
(Please see the attachment/link from Ashoka)

Next steps in the Design Thinking Process: Empathize - Define - Ideate - Prototype - Test [Source: Edutopia]