 | Welcome | Sep 26, 2005 |
 Kuching, February 3, 2011Chinese New YearTouched by the Ch'i That blows over me At the door of the Rabbit I stand here free. Fu, Lu, Shou Each lends his part To lift up my soul Spring-cleaned heart. Lifted from sludge Freed from chains I see in my eyes Pattern of veins.  Ch'i come again Blow over my eyes Clear up the veins Shake off my lies. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Enn, George, Mung Ling, Lily, and Vie Ming for their kind company on the Chinese New Year day. This poem would not have been possible without their presence and their rich inputs on Chinese cultural symbols. As a teacher who has been in this profession for many years, I can see how my approach to teaching has changed over time. Now, I am less a "giver of knowledge," but more a "facilitator of learning." My journey has been one of learning how to set free my classroom from the clutches of my old ideas. One learns to teach by doing it, making all the mistakes generations of teachers have made before. With experience, feedback, self-criticism, and some readings on education, I have become aware of the ways in which I was stifling the teaching-learning process. In retrospect, one of the key blocks to my effectiveness was my artificial separation between teaching and learning. I used to think, teachers teach and students learn. The process taking place in a classroom is better described as an undifferentiated teaching-learning process. Both the teacher and the student contribute by participating fully, without restricting each other to any stereotypical roles. Like many teachers, I too have gone through my share of good and bad times in the classroom. There have been times when the harder I work, the worse would be the classroom experience! It has taken some patience and some courage to detach myself from my old ideas and develop new ones, like the following: Teacher Not the Only Resource Person: If you treat students as empty buckets to be filled with your knowledge, you have to try very hard, because not all students will oblige equally. There can be resistance. On the other hand, you can unleash a lot of energy by treating everyone present in a classroom as a potential resource person. However, as the designated facilitator of that process, one must create the right atmosphere for this to happen. Teacher Stays Open to Learning: An effective teacher stays open to learning at least at three levels: (a) learning about the topics assigned to the class, (b) learning about self, and (c) learning about the teaching-learning process. In this, one of the things that used to obstruct me was my earlier tendency to be extremely evaluative. I would be prompt to point out when I think a student is "wrong" of "off the mark." Gradually, I have become aware of the possible negative impacts of such negative comments. Learning Can be a Risky Venture: For the teacher, as also for the students, learning can be experienced as a risky affair, especially if one is afraid of appearing foolish. The more one seeks to protect a more-knowledgeable-than-thou image, the more one avoids this risk. Of course, right or wrong, students make their own quick assessment of how knowledgeable you are and they can see if you are acting more knowledgeable than they think you actually are. So, by not being open to learning, one also runs a different kind of risk--one of being perceived as pretentious. Individual Learners are Different: Some of us stress conceptual learning; some stress experiential or behavioural learning. I found, it is well to remember that each student is different with respect to how they learn. Initially, my excessively conceptual style would reach only about 10-20 per cent of the class. For many years, I struggled with the question: How can I reach more students? Gradually, I learnt that I must open up multiple pathways of learning. Currently, I try to mix different kinds of element, structured and unstructured, conceptual and experiential, textual and non-textual, face-to-face and Web based, and so forth. Students Can "Teach Back": As the old adage goes, "The best way to learn is to teach." This idea is used by some teachers to promote "teaching" by the students, for example, through short teaching-like engagements. I have found that this idea can be adapted and applied in many creative ways to enhance classroom experience. Sense of Collaboration: Developing a sense of collaboration is important. Some teachers do it well through classroom discussions. A lot of ideas and information would be generated in the class. Sometimes, if not always, the teacher would succeed in synthesising all the inputs into a meaningful whole that one can take away from the class. For students, the most encouraging thing would be to recognise their individual contributions in that final synthesis. I continue to experiment with these ideas. For one subject, I used to maintain a Web page where I would summarise the sessions after each class. Diligent me! One day, I chose to open this task to student volunteers. I noticed, some students got interested in this and it became an important part of their learning process. Of course, it would be naive to expect all students to participate in the same way--they are entitled to follow different pathways of learning. Appeared in The Borneo Post, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (March 31, 2010, p. 16) English version of a poem I wrote in Oriya soon after coming to work in Kuching, Sarawak: Borneo Sky Beyond the half-lit Borneo sky,
Dense clouds cover the radiant sun!
Gentle air lends its magical touch,
Melts the sky and down it pours!
Borneo sky goes bright once more,
Sparkling with colours of countless dreams! Office Professor D. P. Dash
Head, School of Business and Design
Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus
Jalan Simpang Tiga
93350 Kuching
MALAYSIA ddash AT swinburne.edu.my (for official purposes)
professor.dpdash AT gmail.com (for academic purposes)
professor_dash AT yahoo.co.uk (for personal purposes) On the eve of my journey from Bhubaneswar (Orissa, India) to Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia)
Here is the gist in English:
This day . . .
I let you on your path,
May you ride your dream.
This day . . .
I have braved to overcome,
My false sense of home.
This day . . .
I leave behind the familiar,
To seek the meaning of life.
This day . . .
I spread my wings,
For a borderless flight.
Tomorrow . . .
I shall discover my chance,
To live and grow without regrets.
Note. After a few days of writing this, I remembered that the original trigger for this poem came from another poem I read in Here & Now, 22(4) (October-December 2008), p. 7, by Dr Bhavita Saxena (PDF version available here). One-Day Workshop on Research Methods and Practices in Management, ASCI, Hyderabad, India, April 24, 2009The event was organised to enhance research focus at ASCI, Hyderabad. About 15-20 academic/research staff of ASCI (from their various centres) participated in the event. Prof. Ch. Hanumantha Rao presented an excellent introduction -- full of insights about research. You can find a summary of it written by me. I anchored the first half of the workshop, starting my presentation with a discussion on the age-old Meno's paradox, demonstrating how it might be circumvented in practice -- using a group exercise. It created some energy and enthusiasm in the group. I followed it up with discussions on some of the general issues pertaining to research, for example, linkages between the everyday world and the research world, social relevance of research, research as a paradigm of practice, breeds of research, and so forth. Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus), Malaysiahttp://www.swinburne.edu.my/With effect from May 1, 2009, I am going on leave from XIMB, India to take up a position at Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus), located in the city of Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia. Swinburne is an Australian university. I would be associated with the School of Business and Design at the Sarawak campus. |  | Daniel's letter to me, placed here with Daniel's permission. This is his first letter to me after he moved to St. Joseph's School, North Point, Darjeeling -- it's a treasure for me to keep and share with you. |
 Published OnlineResearch World
http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/Home
Open access -- Free to readers.
About Research World
Research World is an open-access publication, focused on research thinking and practice in management and closely related fields. It is primarily meant for doctoral students in these fields, although others inclined towards research are welcome to use it. Articles are selected for their potential for research education. The publication aspires to be a popular venue for ongoing conversations about the goals and methods of research in management. It also hopes to promote innovative forms of research in management and related fields. On the whole, Research World seeks to emerge as an important source of learning material to be used in doctoral-level education in management anywhere in the world.
Just published . . .
Journal of Research Practice (JRP)Volume 4, Issue 1, 2008
The articles in this issue tell us a lot about how research develops--in different contexts. The first article (Fratesi & Vacher) takes us through the dynamics of "little science, big science," in the discipline of geology--a dynamics experienced in other disciplines too. The second article (Richards) reminds us of the kind of research that existed even before the disciplines came into being, practised by the pre-Socratics, which can still be practised today. The next two articles (Bhattacharyya; Räsänen) focus on researchers and their individual and collective potential for redirecting their work. JRP aims at becoming an important companion to every research-inclined individual and every research student in the world. Editors D. P. Dash, PhD [professor.dpdash[AT]gmail.com] Héctor R. Ponce, PhD [hponce[AT]usach.cl]
TABLE OF CONTENTS Scientific Journals as Fossil Traces of Sweeping Change in the Structure and Practice of Modern Geology [HTML] (Sarah E. Fratesi, H. Leonard Vacher) The Art of Rhetoric as Self-Discipline: Interdisciplinarity, Inner Necessity, and the Construction of a Research Agenda [HTML] (Anne R. Richards) Genesis of an Academic Research Program [HTML] (Gautam Bhattacharyya) Meaningful Academic Work as Praxis in Emergence [HTML] (Keijo Räsänen)
Just published . . . Journal of Research Practice (JRP)Volume 3, Issue 2, 2007Special Issue
On Beyond InterdisciplinarityIntroduction: Centering on the Edge (Anne Dalke, Elizabeth McCormack)
Crossing the Boundaries
Learning Not to Think Like an Economist (David R. Ross)
Temporary Anchors, Impermanent Shelter: Can the Field of Education Model a New Approach to Academic Work? (Jody Cohen, Alice Lesnick, Darla Himeles)
Beyond the Archive: Cultural Memory in Dance and Theater (Carol L. Bernstein)
Breaking the Rule of Discipline in Interdisciplinarity: Redefining Professors, Students, and Staff as Faculty (Alison Cook-Sather, Elliott Shore)
Reframing the Structures
History of Science as Interdisciplinary Education in American Colleges: Its Origins, Advantages, and Pitfalls (Paula Viterbo)
How and Why to Teach Interdisciplinary Research Practice (Rick Szostak)
Multidisciplinarity, Interdisciplinarity, and Bridging Disciplines: A Matter of Process (Dawn Youngblood)
Advancing Transdisciplinary and Translational Research Practice: Issues and Models of Doctoral Education in Public Health (Linda Neuhauser, Dawn Richardson, Sonja Mackenzie, Meredith Minkler)
Rethinking the Questions
Synecdoche and Surprise: Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production (Anne Dalke, Elizabeth McCormack)
Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity, and Beyond: The Brain, Story Sharing, and Social Organization (Paul Grobstein) The ISABS Chennai Region held its Coromandel Event, 2007 at Mamalla Beach Resort, during March 19-23, 2007. I was an observer of one of the Human Process Laboratories at this event--this was a requirement for the Professional Development Programme I am going through under ISABS. Although I was a little apprehensive about my role as an observer, it turned out to be a splendid experience, full of meaningful insights. I was witness to an almost magical process of interaction, reflection, and transformation that unfolded over the 5 days, during which a group of perfect strangers managed to co-create a space for exploring their own behaviour, identities, and the multi-layered complexity of human relations. Personally, I moved from being an observer to a participant observer, sometimes also an observing participant, and thus got in touch with my potential as a facilitative member in a T-group setting, with or without specific roles assigned to me. [December 30, 2006] Just completed a trekking expedition in the Eastern Ghats mountain range, which was being organised by the Andhra Pradesh State Branch of the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI, http://www.yhaindia.org/). The 6-days' trek covered the picturesque Araku valley and the breath-taking Borra caves.
PROGRAMME
Day 1: Report at base camp, Shivalingapuram, near Visakhapatnam
Day 2: Trek to Ceraku Madta
Day 3: Trek to Valasi
Day 4: Trek to Sunkara Metta
Day 5: Rest day: Visit to Araku town
Day 6: Trek to Borra caves; drive back to Shivlingapuram; valedictory
More to come . . .
Just published online ...
Journal of Research Practice
Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006
Main Articles
My Life's Journey as Researcher (Elinor W. Gadon)
Exploring Forms of Triangulation to Facilitate Collaborative Research Practice: Reflections From a Multidisciplinary Research Group (Tarja Tiainen, Emma-Reetta Koivunen)
Exploring Interdisciplinarity: The Significance of Metaphoric and Metonymic Exchange (Anne Dalke, Paul Grobstein, Elizabeth McCormack)
Research Design
Internet-Based Data Collection: Promises and Realities (Jacob Benfield, William Szlemko)
Finding Respondents from Minority Groups (Nelda Mier, Alvaro A. Medina, Anabel Bocanegra-Alonso, Octelina Castillo-Ruiz, Rosa I. Acosta-Gonzalez, Jose A. Ramirez)
Provocative Idea
Rethinking Critically Reflective Research Practice: Beyond Popper's Critical Rationalism (Werner Ulrich)
All research-inclined persons and cordially invited to visit this open access journal and share their views in our online members-only forum: Research Practice
| | Some photos for my multiply.com site |
Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS, http://www.isabs.org/) and Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB, http://www.ximb.ac.in/) offered a behavioural learning event:
Human Process Laboratories
(Residential and Non-residential)
In a human process laboratory, a group of around 8 to 12 participants work together along with a facilitator to learn about human processes and discover more about themselves, their strengths, their styles, their interpersonal and group interactions, how they perceive and are perceived by others. While this is the primary task, there is no pre-determined agenda and the group uses the “here and now” experience to derive this learning, using each other as a resource. The facilitator helps to create a climate for such learning.
Successfully Completed:
ISABS-XIMB Monsoon Event, Sep 4-8, 2006
Venue: XIMB Campus, Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar 751013
Basic and advanced laboratories on human processes (BLHP and ALHP) and one special laboratory: Personal and Organisational Learning Processes (meant for persons working in learning-related fields).
For more information about this event, please visit the ISABS Kolkata Region Web site:
http://isabscal.blogspot.com/
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Memorable pictures taken @ 
