Redefining Higher Education on account of

Globalization

Prof. R Ramakrishnan ramakrish54@gmail.com

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Education

It is central to the Human Resources Development and empowerment in any country

Its quality is judged by the kind of humans it produces.

EducationEducation is the means whereby adults

pass on for the future to children their Beliefs, Values and Desires

It represents a philosophy and a system of values- our beliefs regarding the good, the true and the beautiful

Society derives advantages from a well-educated and well-trained population, such as

Increased economic competitiveness,

Improved social mobility,

Transmission of social values,

Social cohesion, etc.,

Higher Education § Investment in human capital that is essential to economic

growth

§ Channel for upward social

mobility

Objectives Universities

Knowledge

Know-how

Wisdom

Character

Knowledge Explosion

Research and development,

Automation and

The spread of higher education.

Driving forces for future Economic growth

Develop a global mindset

Understand of modern society and their characteristic values in their social, economic, political, technological and ecological environments.

Inculcate leadership qualities

Facilitate lateral thinking and inculcate values of integrity, justice and fairness

•Knowledge and •Information

Education at the higher level must liberate the mind from all sorts of inhibitions and creativity and synthesis of ideas have a greater role to play .

"Education means enabling the mind to find out that ultimate truth which emancipates us from the bondage of the dust and gives us the wealth, not of things but of inner light, not of power but of love, making this truth its own and giving expression to it. It is a dialogue between the past, present and the future and Universities are places of ideals and idealism.“ Rabindranath Tagore

Globalization means more competition and it also means a nation's investment, production and innovation that is not limited by national borders.

Two of the main bases of globalization are

Information and

Innovation.

Industry should specify to the Universities/Institutes about their exact requirements in terms of curriculum development. Industry should have knowledge on the areas of specialization being attempted by the University/Institutes. A more meaningful Industry-Institute partnership is the basic requisite. Closer cooperation between industry and academics at home can definitely make education world class in the field of engineering, management etc.,

Higher education is a critical factor and must be part of any development strategy. It is an important investment in human capital essential to economic growth as it lays emphasis on the training of skilled manpower, market forces requiring "marketable products" and consequently on, "specialization" contributing to a knowledge-based society in many ways.

Critical thinking involves both logical thinking and reasoning and involves skills like comparison, classification, sequencing, cause/effect, patterning, deductive and inductive reasoning, forecasting, planning, hypothesizing, critiquing etc.

Creative thinking involves creating something new or original and aims to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, associative thinking, attribute listing etc.

Higher education must strike a balance between professional training and general education. Individuals have to adapt themselves to multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies, as experience of diversity of cultural identities is an imperative for mutual understanding, tolerance and peace. Then only it can neutralize the risks of uniformalisation and affirm of universal unity of mankind.

Reforms

There is a need to change the curriculum urgently. The discipline-oriented learning has to be replaced by interdisciplinary courses that are career oriented gradually. The curriculum must aim at giving field based learning experiences for students and must respond to the local needs for human resource in specific work-related opportunities.

Traditional approaches emphasize the presentation of information, and define learning as its absorption. Teaching excellence is seen as sound academic knowledge, extensive content coverage, and polished presentation skills. Excellence in learning equals the flawless recall and summary of information.

An effective student-centered, learning-oriented classroom requires different perspectives from both instructors and students. Changes are being called for in the way we think about the role of both instructor and student. The goal of instruction becomes the intentional intellectual development of students instead of covering content.

This involves changing the way students think and encouraging them to confront what they believe in light of facts and evidence. Students must also significantly alter

Their view of knowledge,

The role of instructors, and

Themselves as learners at the same time.

Literacy-based instruction can be designed to help students identify their own learning styles and strengths, as well as appropriate strategies and techniques to help them capitalize on those strengths. Students can now use their reading, writing, and thinking skills to generate products that demonstrate their mastery of the content, as well as their ability to apply the content in meaningful ways.

Literacy-based instruction and strategies emphasize the ongoing processes of self-reflection, goal setting, self-evaluation, and improvement. Teachers need to help the students to make the process of continuous assessment effective by making adjustments accordingly. Students must be encouraged to monitor and evaluate their own learning on a regular basis and also be taught self-help and survival strategies to address difficulties in comprehension and learning, once they are identified

Students need to understand that knowledge is context dependent and that they can judge the merits of ideas, information, and values based on criteria. They have to look at instructors as the facilitators and view their own role of learning to think independently. The skills of critical thinking, problem solving, written communication, and ability to work collaboratively are thus to be developed in the students

Teaching standards and curricula needs immediate revision. Focus of the Institutes should shift from creating the "best" syllabus to the most "effective" syllabus. Learners do not acquire knowledge passively but construct it actively based on their experiences. This involves the use of active learning strategies such as group work, discussion, case studies, problem-based learning, and the like.

Continual improvement of learning processes based on learning outcomes can thus replace the outdated "teach and test" mode. With patience and persistence, TQM can lead to significant cultural changes in higher education by providing a valuable organizational framework for restructuring.

In traditional classrooms, teachers often follow this sequence: 1 Plan-------------------> 2 Teach----------------------> 3 Test The TQM alternative is: 1 Plan--> 2 Teach (DO)--> 3 Check--> 4 Revised Teaching (ACT)--> 5 Test

Quality in education is a matter of global quest and Quality management uses techniques to assure that whatever is done is consistent with the aims and goals of the enterprise. It does not dictate these aims and goals. The quality of the product is determined by the quality of the process that produces it and hence if we want to improve a product or service, we have to concentrate on improving the process that produces it.

The eleven areas identified as indicators of quality are

Leadership,

Teacher quality,

Linkage and interface,

Students,

Co-curricular activities,

Teaching,

Office management,

Relationship,

Material resources,

Examination and

Job satisfaction

A vision for education must look ahead, to the time when the education will be put to use, and consider the threats and opportunities those being educated will face. The choice of what to include under the headings of knowledge, know-how, wisdom and character, will depend upon this vision of the future.

It is not enough to have a vision that relates to how the contents of education should change. It is also necessary to understand the changes required for the educational system itself.

Dr. Glasser's six conditions for quality schoolwork given under:

There must be a warm, supportive learning environment.

Students should be asked to do only useful work.

Students should be asked to do the best they can do.

Students should be asked to evaluate their own work

and improve it.

Quality work should always feel good.

Quality work should never be destructive.

New curricula reflecting novel content, learning objectives, teaching methodology, certification and relevant learning process need to be designed. Radical changes in the system of examination need to be done making education reality-oriented and learner-centered

Staff must engage themselves in ongoing professional development and continuous learning activities. Teachers need to foster positive teacher-student and student-student relationships through the use of cooperative learning strategies.

Personal interactions between teachers and students must be always positive. Students must be encouraged to develop a sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Thus every one needs to be totally involved and committed.

With changing patterns of education delivery from face-to-face to online, course content, nature of learner, and organizational structures, the concept of quality has become an inherent component of the educational process for its success. Total Quality Management (TQM) in Education is a timely tool, which must be clearly understood, adopted and implemented as soon as possible.

Total Quality is the most important, thought provoking revolution in the world of modern management. Education is in the process of a major change. Through innovations in technology and teaching methodology, academic institutions are being given an opportunity to work for the benefit of the student.

Professors can now coach, counsel, and collaborate with students during the learning process instead of providing lectures in the traditional way. The key to progress is partnership between the students and teachers and participative learning.

In the classroom, teacher-student teams are the equivalent of industry's front-line workers. The product of their successful work together is the development of the student's capabilities, interests, and character. Teachers must be empowered to make instructional decisions based on the characteristics and needs of students. The emphasis needs to be on teaching students rather than content.

TQM emphasizes self-evaluation as part of a continuous improvement process. Hence the evaluation system needs s to be accordingly changed. Today it is in our best interest to encourage everyone's potential by dedicating ourselves to the continual improvement of our own abilities and those of the people with whom we work and live.

The system must focus on students' strengths, individual learning styles, and different types of intelligences reflecting a change in from students' limitations to their innate strengths and talents. Training is only one method of helping people perform at higher levels of competency. More often the problem is that they are doing the wrong tasks altogether.

The six levels of Benjamin Bloom's classic Taxonomy of educational objectives are

Knowledge

v Comprehension,

Application,

Analysis,

Synthesis, and

Evaluation/appreciation

Students must be given continual training in the meaning and use of these designations that, it will develop facility in assessing their own learning by identifying the degree to which they grasp each competency and assigning the appropriate designation.

The core missions of higher education - to educate, to train, to undertake research and to provide services to the community - must be preserved, reinforced and further expanded. Methods of higher education also have to be appropriate to the needs of learning to learn, learning to do, learning to be and learning to become.

Teachers can encourage students to explore the Web and help the students to weigh evidence, judge the authenticity of data, compare different viewpoints on issues, analyze and synthesize diverse sources of information, and construct their own understanding of the topic or issue at hand.

Teachers can also foster development of collaborative skills with the Web.

We have now an information society rather than a knowledge society. It is one of the key functions of higher education institutions to convert information into knowledge. Values need to be brought back into the education process, without which education lacks substance and direction.

There is need to teach leadership, goal setting, team building and other qualities in the classroom to prepare the students to share the responsibility to become active learners. The search for quality is indispensable for a policy based on merit.

Countries need to develop a new learning culture, a culture of lifelong learning for all. Students also need to improve on their soft skills, stress management, sensitivity to different cultures, ethical and professional values etc., to serve the industry and the country better. There is a need for greater flexibility in the way in which higher education and research systems are coordinated at the systems level.

An important component of globalization in relation of education is the need for producing higher quality manpower that can successfully face competition in the world markets. This would imply selecting the best possible human material and giving them education of the highest quality. The following aspects will have to be incorporated into the new forms of transmission of knowledge in the near future:

Regional diversity;

Co-development;

Scientific excellence;

Intellectual property;

Portability of teaching material;

The quality approach.

.

As a mediator of knowledge, the new teachers must thus be placed in an effective logistic environment so that they can concentrate on the expertise of learning the scientific content of their discipline

There is a need to maintain an appropriate balance between the quality and quantity of higher education, and in so doing, be cognizant of graduate employment opportunities.

There thus a need to change thinking about higher education from regarding it in terms of immediate economic return to viewing it in terms of long-term sustainable development.

Thank You

Ramakrishnan