I was amongst those academicians whose students either ‘love to love’ or ‘love to hate’. Though I get rewarding comments from those who ‘loved’ me, I was getting too many Ds and Fs in classes to feel encouraged. I couldn’t understand why the students didn’t get it – that everything is applicable. I comforted myself that it couldn’t be solely my fault, but I did realized that it couldn’t be theirs either.
One fateful day, I reflected on the way the syllabus was designed and how teaching had become so mundane. I thought that maybe something WAS wrong and there was truth in what they say in the market – WE DON”T TEACH OUR KIDS ANYTHING THAT THEY REALLY NEED TO KNOW! We teach them theories that are completely detached from practice; we throw them case studies from Adams because it’s in the book but completely irrelevant to the fast evolving world, and we ask them to do projects they can’t relate to. Then, we asked them, “Do you understand?” What do you think is staring back blankly at you?
The reality is academicians forget too. The things they know today come so easily that they forget that they once were young and used to not know either. There was a time when they thought their lecturers were great muses and the ‘googly-gook’ talks about theories, facts and figures were irrelevant to their then ‘reality’. They laughed at their lecturers’ jokes, but see no connection between the joke and the classroom, which is a painful reality to their professor.
The simple fact is to relate the classroom to the reality. Find a way to connect theories to the things that impacts the lives of the students. For them to think critically, is to be able to associate theories to issues they are faced with daily; basics like incidents or phenomenon that are relevant to their lifestyle, like being a skeptic when trend setters changes the ideas of fashion’s do’s and don’ts or how to be attractive when dealing with a heartthrob.
As academicians, they should be creative and think out of the box. They need to come to terms that the young are quite egocentric and approaching their reality can be quite complex. But, if the young can’t relate to anything their lecturers are saying to them, the information has no impact on their lives. Consequently, everything the academician says flies over their head, while their head wonders off to la-la land. Now, wouldn’t it be practical to show the students how to think by first being a thinker?
One semester, while still a lecturer, I attempted the Problem-Based Learning approach in my Media Planning course. My students were exposed to theories but via case studies. They were expected to pick up every aspect of the course by attempting to analyze a case study via consultation hours with me and the media agencies. They were required to read, make relevant calls to media agencies that created the media campaign, argue facts from the case studies and defend their ideas for or against the decision executed by the media planners. They had three weeks to submit.
Panic struck them, because in three weeks, if they don’t read something relevant, make necessary calls and understand enough to apply; they can’t complete the assignment; which is15% of their grades! So, they read, they called, they asked and made the coursework relevant to their lives. They lived and breathed the case study and finally they understood.
Mission accomplished? Not exactly.
To be sure, I decided the students should attempt a media proposal for any single running campaign on campus, which required a ‘pitching’ presentation. My students who did well for the case study gave me a smirk and had the assignment’s initial work done without breaking a sweat. Students who performed averagely … went back to the basics, READ, and made more calls. Between the grading and re-grading of their work, the signs became more positive.
The realization that hit me was that students need to be given an opportunity to think. But, the initial steps must come from the academicians to care enough to make a change. At the rate academicians are ‘feeding’ are no longer synonymous to the famed spoon feeding phenomena, but more to what an ex-Program Director once said to me, “It’s breastfeeding!” The fact that she was well endowed, the statement was very becoming but I took it quite seriously.
What I really want to say is, teachers: stop vomiting what your teacher’s taught you and start critically thinking of ‘friendlier’ and more practical teaching methodologies. Get students to be independent. It’s time to unlatch and let them grow. On the other hand, students: please stop milking over worked teachers dry by taking ownership of your education. The world doesn’t owe you any favors. Grow up and get on your way. This is what you might want to call as the freedom to think.
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