One of the many challenges that the premier educational institutions in our country faces today is orienting new teachers to the institutional needs, values, culture and functioning. This issue is of paramount importance with increasing mobility of teachers between premier educational institutions, which follow different systems to manage themselves.
Most of our understanding and construction of reality occurs through comparisons. Any new teacher, at the first instance, will compare his new institution with the previous one and this natural tendency is not free of biases. Often, a new teacher’s understanding will be based on limited number of criteria in the new place, which can contradict with his previous experiences and expectations. In the process, he can very well miss out on the good things the new institution has to offer.
The need for hierarchy
Hierarchy is a functional requisite and therefore, a lack of it will lead to anarchy. Education in liberal arts will lead a neophyte to first apply all the principles he learned to the understanding of his surrounding, especially his own workplace. The first thing which comes to his notice will be the functional order. He usually criticises it without understanding its functional necessity in the workplace. Often, a beginner can’t distinguish the personal traits of a person holding an office from his professional traits.
Having said that, hierarchy should never be imposed on the employees but instead, be based on logic. Most of the criticisms on hierarchy emerge when a beginner feels that a person holding an office uses it for projecting his power or when he is exploiting the system for personal purposes or when the functional imperatives of an office are not properly conveyed to him. This will lead a beginner to give personal connotations to official instructions received from that office. Therefore, presenting logical reasons to the new teachers for implementing any policy or decision and connecting them to the functional needs of the system is of paramount importance.
Inducting newcomers by introducing them to the rules and regulations of the institution could happen at group level, whereas orienting them to the institutional values and culture has to happen at the individual level. Communicating specific things, applicable only to some beginners in a common forum will demoralise others. It is also necessary to prevent the formation of a common identity among them.
Being a true professional
Though professionalism has different connotations according to the context of the workplace, there are at least some which cut across. In an educational institution, hard work, humility, perseverance and mutual respect are some qualities, which can help in the professional growth. Unfortunately, higher education in India does not specifically teach these traits. A teacher new to the profession has to learn them from his seniors, which means the seniors have to be cautious and responsible in their conduct.
Any new teacher will have a natural urge to be known and recognised in his institution. Some of them will be disappointed when they find that the competition in the new place is going to be tough and time consuming. To protect their sense of self-esteem, they often start blaming the system and try to assume pride in the auspices of their alma mater or the previous workplace. This happens especially when established means to achieve recognition are unavailable or too limited.
Also, on a side note, one’s vulnerability to provocation shows his personal and intellectual weakness. An educated person must muster perseverance and ability to represent things diplomatically in appropriate forums. Beginners must take time to understand a system which is new to them and learn to appreciate the amount of meticulous efforts and planning that has gone in to establishing such institutions of eminence.
Established strategies considering the changing profile of new teachers is necessary. This will help to control ‘power mongers’ in any system, taking undue advantage of the vulnerability of beginners to pursue their own personal interests. It is also necessary to engage the right set of professionals and academicians, whom the new teachers can find worthy of emulation, to train the newbies. However, it is the equal responsibility of everyone to contribute to the growth of an institution, all the while making sure their colleagues are on the right track to progress.
(The author is assistant professor of sociology, Christ University, Bengaluru)
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