I did note the huge amount of irritation and consternation on faces right after the first class on Macro in which the planned syllabus was not completed there were too many questions to start with and then 'Kosfelds 1/(1-Beta)' effect manifested affecting all!(I do agree the team that presented on friday was at a disadvantage because multipliers was taken only on Friday but come on they anyways rocked on their presentation)
SORRY! but you guys must understand that there were 3 main villains to this-
1. Cultural
We come from a culture in which historically we never have asked back question for centuries due to the 'Hindu' way of life and respect for elders, according to the Hindu thinking the teacher was the third most important god!ahead of the "GODS" themselves!
Matru Devo Bhava,Pithru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo bhava, Athithi Devo bhava (Translates in Rankings for God 1- Mom,2-Dad,3-Teacher,4-Guest and finally came the "REAL GODs") , to ask question or question the teacher was not only a taboo it was SACRILEGE!
2. Historical -Ironically the first "global university" which attracted scholars world wide was in India at a place called Nalanda or Taxila 500 BC but it just vanished.The British education system(still followed to a great extent in the Indian sub continent) which albeit taught us all very good English hardly allowed thinkers or original ideaters and abohrred people who questioned.This unfortunately stood ground for almost 5-6 decades even after Independence(till the new education policy came 'informally some time back' and formally recently, things are now completely different) Afterall the objective of the British education system was only to dole out large number of clerks(or Glorified clerks also nowadays referred to as CEO').Colonial exploitation had created a new imperative for the colonial lords. It could no longer be truthfully acknowledged that India had a rich civilization of its own - that its philosophical and scientific contributions may have influenced British scholars - or helped in shaping the Renaissance. Britain needed a class of intellectuals meek and docile in their attitude towards the British, but full of contempt towards fellow citizens. It was thus important to emphasize the negative aspects of the Indian tradition, and obliterate or obscure the positive. Indians were to be taught that they were a deeply conservative and fatalist people - genetically predisposed to irrational superstitions and mystic belief systems(which lead to stereotyping outside including the fact that most still believe that we go to our work place in suits and turbans on Elephants and the second most popular career in India right after IT programmer is that of the Snake Charmer).
That they had no concept of nation, national feelings or a history. If they had any culture, it had been brought to them by invaders - that they themselves lacked the creative energy to achieve anything by themselves. But the British, on the other hand epitomized modernity(got nothing to do with Gordon Browns suit which I think is from Shakesphere' plays) - they were the harbingers of all that was rational and scientific in the world. With their unique organizational skills and energetic zeal, they would raise India from the morass of casteism and religious bigotry. These and other such ideas were repeatedly filled in the minds of the young Indians who received instruction in the British schools. Schools in which you couldnt question?(add to the above paragraph a slight tilt to left based "socialism" from 1947 till about 2000!)
3. Technical-(and personally according to me this is a very important factor!)-Economics till date is only consdiered an "ART" in India the degree' awarded are still B.A or M.A and mostly all exams were in the lines of what Iris writes as Blah blah blah (Refer Iris' blog on 1960 break dance) to many of us this suddenly is a shock to see slopes and double derivatives!( for the majority of minds who post British education system belives only English/Math/Science/Engg/IT is the way forward!) hence you see class activity similar to that of Tejas'(my son) on days he has had an extra dose of sugar!
On the Whole,THIS EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT (atleast for most of us who have not had taste of the 'western' western education) this is NEW FOUND FREEDOM (similar to a bunch of teenage kids first time in a vegaslike 'topless' bar) & COMPLETELY A NEW APPROACH TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING!and it will take a little bit time for the honey moon to get over! (in the mean time if some one (read SOMEONE) goes overboard and you feel is slowing down the class just nudge or cough:)!)
Just like the Brits have been epitomized by the famous play "No Sex Please we are British", I think in our case it would be "eine frage bitte,ich bin aus Indien"
V
P.S: For the Grade Chasers - We will be seriously undermining the intelligence of the professor' if we think the 'who speaks most gets most' for class participation! or that profs dont have the inability to cut and weed out nonsense of questions :)
P.p.s: In order to do this writeup I decided to do an observation preparatory trip I went about observing shoppers (mostly pretty Woman about mid 30') who questioned the stores sales person to understand how can one ask good questions in the future, this was done at a couple of malls on Zeil (Hauptwache and Konstablarwache) on Thursday & Friday(alone with no help),Saturday (with help- a lovely Srilankan Woman along with her fired up teenage daughter as my Deutsche interpreter just in case I didnt miss the nuances(Sri Lankan Tamils are from a different country however we share the same mother Tongue).
@Galleria
Rugs - observation- just a few features and specs on the stupid board is not sufficent.
Yes - that rug color looks nice and she knows a natural weave is what she's looking for - but is it soft to bare feet of toddlers?
does it stain when Aunt Buela spills her red wine?
is it durable when lots of traffic pounds the rug fibers?
Towels - sure, they're made of soft cotton - but will they stay soft through hundreds of launderings?
Will they maintain their color or fade?
Will they unravel or will they remain intact even though they're used every day.
@Saturn
DVD Players -
does it record or just play back?
what media does it use?
what's the difference between DVD +R and DVD -R?
What's thisdual layer technology they're talking about?
"I have also heard of the Jazz singer Blue Ray ! oh sorry thats not the name of the famous african american Jazz Singer" ?
Can I copy a DVD to a DVD?
How does it hook up to my TV?
Do the cables I need come with it?
@the shop that started with Z on Zeil forgot the name suddenly!
Shoes - you say your color is "midnight" but is that blue or black?
is your shoe soft leather or that really stiff leather?
what size is your heel?
I"m on my feet all the time, but I want enough of a heel to look stylish?
so is your shoe comfortable?
@ Karstadt Outdoor sports sections(had a big sign 10 Euros buy 60 Euros and hence had a huge mad rush)
Climbing ropes - I am an indoor climber but now I'm going to try outdoor climbing. What ropes do I need? are indoor ropes different
from outdoor ropes? Do I need different shoes? If I'm just starting out, exactly what do I need? Can you tell me which products
are best for novice climbers? and can you instruct me on how to use them?
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I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong-Bertrand Russell
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePS. V, how did you manage to follow a Sri Lankan lady around town without spooking her out?!
ReplyDeletePoint taken , appreciate.
ReplyDeleteV
Srilankan tamils and I share the same mother tongue and i guess we are cliquish
ReplyDeleteV
Comment deleted and reposted:
ReplyDeleteHey V,
Nice post, you are quiet a prolific poster. As for this post....well... I can kind of see where you are coming from. But I would not rush to blame the subcontinental culture or history. While its true that some of us are trying to spread our wings by testing the new found freedom where the course setup permits and encourages class room discussions we also need to use our 6th sense to know when we should let go of the issue and move on with the course work in the interest of class time. I am sure that all of our professors would be more than happy to exchange ideas after class or 'offline'. After all this is an MBA program, we are not studying so that we can graduate to the next grade/level and use the skills we have learned to learn better in the next grade. We are studying so that 12 months down the line we can combine the knowledge with our past experiences and wits to make better decisions. And healthy classroom discussions and sharing of knowledge is important for that to happen. So for my part I would like to see more in the class and out of the class discussions and exchanges of ideas. We are here to acquire textbook knowledge but also to sharpen our wits which cannot happen without healthy discussions.
We are also faced with the fact that some of the professors still getting used to teaching a very heterogeneous MBA class. And still trying to figure out how to best manage classroom discussions and class-time without offending anyone and completing the coursework on time. Take Katherine Schipper for example, she is a great instructor and also knows when to answer a particular question and when to skip it and when to make one realize that one better have a good question before they ask it.
So IMHO rather than blaming something it would be best for us to use our 6th sense to know when to take the question offline with the professor in the interest of class time.