Re-inventing and Re-living its Commitments in Creative ways
(Quality benchmarking in Higher Education with specific reference to Union Christian College, Aluva)
We are living in a world that is corrupted by the one dominant ideology of the Neo-liberal political economy known as globalization. There is no area of life that does not bear its mark and education is no exception. All arms of democratic governance such as legislature, executive, judiciary and the fourth estate are at the service of the market forces. Education is one of the most crucial service sectors where commercialization, creation of a subservient intelligentsia and cultural indoctrination are making rapid strides.
It is natural that UGC, NAAC and such other instrumentalities in Higher education can only play second fiddle to this cultural action for globalization. In this context, it is very difficult for institutions like UCC, which had maintained a prophetic role in higher education from succumbing to the quality benchmarks of these instrumentalities. The topic for today’s discussion itself is an example as to how terminologies that are unique to business and industry find their way to education and determine its character, thought forms and practices.
Benchmarking is a process used in management, in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practices, usually within their own sector. This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to adopt such best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. Benchmarking is a continuous process in which organizations seek to challenge their practices.
It is my conviction that our efforts at identifying the best practices which would provide UCC with an edge over other colleges should emanate from its own distinct history and self-understanding than from any extraneous influences. The essential benchmark of UCC is its courage to be different and prophetic and to model a unique way of living ones faith in the secular vocation of educational service through a distinct organization of its collective life and administration and way of imparting knowledge. Why did the founding fathers decide, against many odds, to establish a college with unique distinctions of ecumenism, fellowship method of administration, residential life, cosmopolitan character and strong nationalistic commitment? What are the distinctive marks of UCC that we should value and highlight as giving a distinct edge to our service in relation to other institutions?
The founding fathers of the college were not indifferent to their religious persuasion or faith but, had acted on the conviction that “the Christians in India are today called upon to give their best without stopping to stipulate terms for their service, that it is their duty “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” They did not have any greater desire than.... “shoulder [our] humble share of the days burdens among the many tasks that confront the nation at the present time.” The founding fathers further emphasized their commitment to remain obligated to the state: “We have gladly engaged with the Travancore Durbar to accept the “Conscience Clause” and to use no manner of compulsion in the matter of attendance at religious instruction”. This was an action which brought criticism from some of the conservative missionary quarters. But they were firm in their resolve and made it clear that it was not due to any difference to Christian faith but their conviction that at this point in history it was their calling “to give their best without stopping to stipulate terms for their service.”
These statements from one of the documents the founding father’s had produced in 1921 highlight the following:
Christian Humanism affirms the dignity, freedom and responsibility of human beings. It is derived from the Old Testament understanding of human beings as created in the image of God and the New Testament representation of Jesus Christ as the prototype of authentic humanity. Authentic humanity is understood as fellow humanity, life in fellowship and responsibility to the rest of creation and fellow human beings. Bonhoeffer refers to Christ as ‘the man for others’. It points to the lofty goal of facilitating the growth and transformation of human beings into self actualizing beings who are capable of extreme self-sacrifices for the sake “a new heaven and a new earth”. This humanistic tradition was at the back of the liberal arts and science tradition in Higher Education. According to this understanding, education is not an activity of acquiring knowledge and storing it but also one of developing a new human being with faculties, vision and commitment to reinvent and change the existing realties and the world. The practical ways in which the founding father’s tried to realize their educational philosophy is critical in understanding quality benchmarking in U.C. College.
Nothing meaningful is possible within the present University system. It is more a constricting and stifling influence than an enabling instrument. How can we do away with this system and turn the university into a resource center for vetting our courses, enhancing and updating our knowledge base and skills, and guiding us in research and development. Academic Autonomy should be understood and asked for in this context.
No meaningful initiative can be expected of the management. This would mean that ultimately, everything depends upon the determination of the teachers of this institution. The teaching community can divide themselves into task forces to translate the benchmarks into objectives and goals and action plans and bring out a charter of demands for the consideration of the management and the larger public so that the UCC continues to play its prophetic role in higher education.
Can we decide that this same body of people, including our guests, will meet again by the end of this year to talk about a charter of demands for implementation in higher education, specifically in UCC? We must be prepared to think out of the box- the dominant paradigm provided by the neo-liberal economic rationality. We must ask for minority rights not to make profit from education but to live out our values in genuine service in the field of Higher education.
(Quality benchmarking in Higher Education with specific reference to Union Christian College, Aluva)
We are living in a world that is corrupted by the one dominant ideology of the Neo-liberal political economy known as globalization. There is no area of life that does not bear its mark and education is no exception. All arms of democratic governance such as legislature, executive, judiciary and the fourth estate are at the service of the market forces. Education is one of the most crucial service sectors where commercialization, creation of a subservient intelligentsia and cultural indoctrination are making rapid strides.
It is natural that UGC, NAAC and such other instrumentalities in Higher education can only play second fiddle to this cultural action for globalization. In this context, it is very difficult for institutions like UCC, which had maintained a prophetic role in higher education from succumbing to the quality benchmarks of these instrumentalities. The topic for today’s discussion itself is an example as to how terminologies that are unique to business and industry find their way to education and determine its character, thought forms and practices.
Benchmarking is a process used in management, in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practices, usually within their own sector. This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to adopt such best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. Benchmarking is a continuous process in which organizations seek to challenge their practices.
It is my conviction that our efforts at identifying the best practices which would provide UCC with an edge over other colleges should emanate from its own distinct history and self-understanding than from any extraneous influences. The essential benchmark of UCC is its courage to be different and prophetic and to model a unique way of living ones faith in the secular vocation of educational service through a distinct organization of its collective life and administration and way of imparting knowledge. Why did the founding fathers decide, against many odds, to establish a college with unique distinctions of ecumenism, fellowship method of administration, residential life, cosmopolitan character and strong nationalistic commitment? What are the distinctive marks of UCC that we should value and highlight as giving a distinct edge to our service in relation to other institutions?
The founding fathers of the college were not indifferent to their religious persuasion or faith but, had acted on the conviction that “the Christians in India are today called upon to give their best without stopping to stipulate terms for their service, that it is their duty “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” They did not have any greater desire than.... “shoulder [our] humble share of the days burdens among the many tasks that confront the nation at the present time.” The founding fathers further emphasized their commitment to remain obligated to the state: “We have gladly engaged with the Travancore Durbar to accept the “Conscience Clause” and to use no manner of compulsion in the matter of attendance at religious instruction”. This was an action which brought criticism from some of the conservative missionary quarters. But they were firm in their resolve and made it clear that it was not due to any difference to Christian faith but their conviction that at this point in history it was their calling “to give their best without stopping to stipulate terms for their service.”
These statements from one of the documents the founding father’s had produced in 1921 highlight the following:
- Commitment to respond to “the needs of India at this state of world history.”
- Commitment to work toward the creation of “a new and more virile type of Indian manhood humanhood than at present obtains among the products of our Universities.”
- Christian faith is determinative of this understanding of the Human and the kind of service extended to society and it is lived in service to “all” as “a vital force of our (their) lives determining every word, thought and action” in the political and social realm.
- Commitment to remain fiercely independent of the western missionaries and remain dependent and accountable to the state in spite of limitations that they might impose.
- A clear understanding that ‘living the good news’ does not involve being intolerant of other faiths and converting them to Christian faith. In broad strokes, I have painted the context- the historical origins, identity and commitments of UCC- in which we ask questions about quality benchmarking in Union Christian College.
Christian Humanism affirms the dignity, freedom and responsibility of human beings. It is derived from the Old Testament understanding of human beings as created in the image of God and the New Testament representation of Jesus Christ as the prototype of authentic humanity. Authentic humanity is understood as fellow humanity, life in fellowship and responsibility to the rest of creation and fellow human beings. Bonhoeffer refers to Christ as ‘the man for others’. It points to the lofty goal of facilitating the growth and transformation of human beings into self actualizing beings who are capable of extreme self-sacrifices for the sake “a new heaven and a new earth”. This humanistic tradition was at the back of the liberal arts and science tradition in Higher Education. According to this understanding, education is not an activity of acquiring knowledge and storing it but also one of developing a new human being with faculties, vision and commitment to reinvent and change the existing realties and the world. The practical ways in which the founding father’s tried to realize their educational philosophy is critical in understanding quality benchmarking in U.C. College.
- Linking Higher education to the crucial issues that confront our nation today through community extension programs
- Remaining depended and accountable to the state and to the public, accepting the constrictions it may impose
- Re-conceptualizing, re-living and revitalizing the liberal Arts and Science tradition in daring ways
- Restoring the residential life
- Enhancing the cosmopolitan character of the college through greater international linkages
- Democratic nature of the relationships within the campus
The college should keep the best democratic traditions of freedom, respect and responsibility in all aspects of human relationships within the campus. This must be reflected in the relationships between the management and the staff, the staff and the students and the students among themselves. The fellowship method of administration, unique to U. C. College, was essentially meant to remove the distinction between those who govern and those who are governed and to ensure a sense of involvement and participation to those who serve in the college as faculty.
- Quality of Residential life- greater teacher student interaction
Residential life of U. C. College best exemplified this democratic tradition which facilitated a “free intercourse between the teachers and the taught and the participation by them in a common life lived beyond the hours of instruction.” It was seen by the founding fathers as an “antidote against the many stultifying influences of our present educational methods.” This aspect of its heritage must be restored by providing reasons for the present students to stay on the campus for longer hours- library remaining open for longer hours, re-vitalizing the activities of various clubs and societies, keeping alive informed political discourse and activities, offering educational programs that explore the social uses, practical implications and the interdisciplinary linkages of various courses of study.
- Extension to the community
All disciplines and departments of the college must extend their knowledge base to the needs of the community. It is a way of making the subject relevant to the community and to life. Instead of making higher education job oriented our effort should be to make it life or society oriented. There is no meaning in producing knowledge giants without humanity and love and without a grasp of reality and ingenuity to change it. In other words, education should be made reconstructive and liberating. By serving in a community they should be able to deconstruct and reconstruct reality and also their own knowledge system and thus make them serve the ends of liberation in respective communities. This perspective on education owes much to the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire who understood education as cultural action for liberation. The Alwaye Settlement, the Christava Mahilalayam, the Rural Medical Mission and the Alwaye Fellowship House are best examples in our heritage for reaching out to the needs of the community within the limitations of their understanding and ideological orientation.
- Keeping to the spirit and genius of our indigenous heritage in shaping the life and work of the College
“While (we should be) profited by the best counsel that western educational experience can provide” it is important that we “keep distinctly to the spirit and genius of our people in shaping the ideals of College’s life and work. So that within the narrow bounds of a cast-iron system of education, we may find room for the development of a new and more virile type of Indian manhood (womanhood) than at present obtains among the products of our Universities.” What does this mean for us today as a quality bench marking for our development?
- International co-operation in Higher Education
While the founding fathers sought to make the college both in management and atmosphere Indian and refused to accept the domination of the western missionaries in the administration of the college, they took particular care to maintain a cosmopolitan atmosphere on the campus and ensure the presence of Western scholars on the campus as co-workers. The relationships have been mainly with the C. M. S Missionaries and they were borne out of mutual respect and commitment to the lofty goals of higher education. Today it is extremely important that we enunciate an alternative vision of internationalization of higher education over against the dominant globalization paradigm of considering education as a trade in services. A paper presented in one of our seminars in 2000, “Towards a Critical and Creative engagement in Internationalization of Higher Education” amply describes our commitment.”
The paper states: The problems we confront cannot be reduced to that of a nation or a people but rather, those that are confronted by a global community, who find that soil under our feet is being eroded and we are increasingly losing control over our own destiny. All problems have a micro-level and macro-level dimension, and solidarity needs to be built up across national boundaries to deal with them. Over against the solidarity centered on profit motive we need to build a solidarity centered on respect for life and preservation and enhancement of the same.
- Continuous evaluation, up gradation and innovation of academic programs
This is to be done with the objective of:
(1) Keeping up with the knowledge explosion in various academic disciplines and advances in information technology, accessing and sharing of information
(2) Meeting the needs of society in the rapidly changing economic scenario with particular bias and preference to the most deprived and disadvantaged of Indian society and the rural masses
(3) Participating in Knowledge creation based on the strengths of our geographical, cultural and socio-political specificities
(4) Making our educational system more compatible and competitive with the ones that are available any where else so that we can attract foreign students and faculty and thus maintain our cosmopolitan character
(5) Equipping our students to meet and cope with the demands of a highly technological and competitive society
(6) Comprehending and dealing with complex issues of modern life with skills and resources derived from multiple disciplines
(7) Sensitizing students to the negative consequences of the dominant paradigm of development and helping them to evolve alternatives that would be more sustainable, eco-friendly and life-enhancing
(8) Developing greater ethical sensitivity, responsibility and accountability to fellow human beings and nature
- Greater involvement and participation of the faculty in the development of courses, their implementation and the evaluation of students
- Turn religion into a living reality and not a dead routine
The founding fathers, in a brochure published in 1921, used excerpts from a letter from Dr. S. Radhakrishnan to make clear their stance toward religion. Let me quote from the letter “It is good to say the prayers we have learnt at our mothers’ knees once or twice a day, but is it not much better to make religion a vital force of our lives determining every word, thought and deed? …I hope at Alwaye you would try to kindle the spiritual sense, instill a larger vision and thus help people to respect each other’s faith. Such mutual respect would be the necessary result of a true understanding of the spirit of religion that it is not a cult or a creed, a church or a ceremonial system, but an inner life which in the quiet depths of the soul seeks its way to God…. If we preserve our tradition of patience under suffering, passive resistance to evil, the power to face death without a tremor, and develop our innate sense of the spiritual, we will no more be servile imitators of the alien.”
This exhortation by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan deserves more attention than ever before when we are faced with the ugly face of religion and its cultic and sectarian uses taking precedence over its humanizing and ennobling roles. It is important the college develop a department of religion and ethics to “harmonize the colors that now to all appearance refuse to blend” (Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, 1921) and to respond to ethical questions emanating from modern Science and technology and the challenges raised by such phenomenon as globalization and neo-liberal economic policies.
- Maintaining the simplicity, serenity and pristine character of the ecology of the college
One of the essential aspects of ones identity and self-respect is ones body image. We have a large and beautiful campus. We don’t seem to be fully aware of it. Over the years, the development of the college in terms of buildings and infrastructure has been unplanned and less appreciative of the beauty of the college campus. When the campus becomes very large, its up keep becomes a problem. Hence it is important to demarcate the area essential for our development and draw up a master plan so that future development will be more in tune with the beauty and ecology of our campus
- Greater interaction between scholars and experts, the community, government agencies, industry and service agencies and mechanisms to realize the same
- Developing and ensuring a strong financial base with endowments and scholarships, not through commercialization of education, but trusting in the good will of people – our alumni and well wishers
This is best achieved by a development office and by involving our alumni and scholars who have distinguished themselves in various fields of study, research, business and industry in the life of the college, in an advisory capacity. We can harness their good will and resources, both financial and academic/technical, by establishing network of Alumni chapters all over the world and also by continuous updating of the developments in the college through a newsletter. Here we should be able to make use of the potentials of information technology.After all this is said and done, how can we make this a reality? How can we live up to the standards we set for ourselves?
Nothing meaningful is possible within the present University system. It is more a constricting and stifling influence than an enabling instrument. How can we do away with this system and turn the university into a resource center for vetting our courses, enhancing and updating our knowledge base and skills, and guiding us in research and development. Academic Autonomy should be understood and asked for in this context.
No meaningful initiative can be expected of the management. This would mean that ultimately, everything depends upon the determination of the teachers of this institution. The teaching community can divide themselves into task forces to translate the benchmarks into objectives and goals and action plans and bring out a charter of demands for the consideration of the management and the larger public so that the UCC continues to play its prophetic role in higher education.
Can we decide that this same body of people, including our guests, will meet again by the end of this year to talk about a charter of demands for implementation in higher education, specifically in UCC? We must be prepared to think out of the box- the dominant paradigm provided by the neo-liberal economic rationality. We must ask for minority rights not to make profit from education but to live out our values in genuine service in the field of Higher education.