Redefining Higher Education on

account of Globalization
Prof. R Ramakrishnan
[email protected]

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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.
Education
Education 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