The new challenges of teaching management

Today, teachers have to cope with MBA students because the teaching-learning process of the traditional classroom is under question. The emergence of technologies that enables easy access to information resources and the changing learner profile with global aspirations adds to the complexities of teaching learning. For teachers, the need, therefore is to motivate students, enhance the effectiveness of classroom interaction and create a stimulating learning environment, which becomes a challenge.

The lack of training in teaching skills is another disadvantage. Few colleges impart formal basic teaching skills, which is necessary for new faculty members who join the profession straight from their student life. In the absence of any structured teacher training skills, the newly hired faculty members have no other alternative but to resort to a trial and error method and evolve their teaching skills. Clearly, there is a need for an effective teaching strategy particularly in management education. To become an effective teacher, it is necessary to comprehend the characteristics of today’s learners.

This generation of learners with a short attention span prefers:
*Icons to text
*Play to work
*Payoff to patience
*Active learning to passive learning
*Experiential learning activities

So the challenge for today’s teachers in management education is, to craft a learner-centric teaching strategy which can create an engaging teaching-learning experience. The following guidelines may be considered as key success factors while adopting a teaching strategy.
The most commonly used lecture method has its own limitations. According to management thinker W Ellet, “the lecture method generally does not afford students the chance of rigorous practice and learners tend to be graded on recall of facts.” Therefore it is necessary to realise that in the lecture method, the faculty merely transmits knowledge while students are only passive recipients.

Case studies used in management teaching symbolise a simulation of the corporate environment. According to management thinkers W Glenn Rowe, Laura Guerrero, “… cases will generate much discussion in the classroom as students grapple with difficult real world decisions that have grabbed the attention of real world managers…’’  Case studies therefore demand student participation in the classroom, which enables them to get insights into business complexities.

Simulation games involve specific rules and assigned roles that mirror a real business world scenario and help learners replicate almost similar experiences. For instance, when a company chooses whether or not to embark on a merger and acquisition and the decision making process that follows is a scenario which could be played out in a classroom.

Another one could be about how a company evolves a business strategy to cope with competition. Therefore simulation games help learners to understand the challenges of business decision-making and brainstorming. The other advantages of simulation games are opportunity for repetition and immediate and specific feedback.

Another powerful tool for management teachers is self-directed learning (SDL) where learners transcend the conventional classroom learning because they are made to think and act on their own. In the process they extend their horizons of textbook knowledge into practical application. The SDL approach as a pedagogy therefore helps learners to think critically, reason with issues in hand and tackle real world business problems. So much so, SDL requires students to restructure concepts through their own thought process and utilise their prior knowledge and experience.

Another powerful pedagogy is Action Learning - originally coined by Reg Revans, where learners work on an important business project. They then reflect over it to gain insights into the relevant issues and concepts. Here, learners work collaboratively and creatively to generate various ideas and perspectives on the topic to be learnt and device the right solutions. Properly planned and executed, Action Learning can help to involve and engage learners at high levels, particularly while teaching key management concepts. The hallmark of Action Learning is that, here the thrust of ownership is on learners.

Perhaps the classical art of teaching is the old Socratic Method which relies on the need to question students and enables them to figure out their learning gaps. Research has shown that well-planned questions can help to enhance critical thinking and performance of learners.
The teaching-learning methodologies apart, the attitude, articulation, behaviour and knowledge, which shape the personality of a teacher, is far more important. He or she should have a student-friendly approach both inside and outside the classroom. The teacher needs to watch his or her talk-listen ratio in the classroom to be able to effectively engage students. To quote Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”   

(The writer is associate professor, Institute of Management, Christ University, Bengaluru)