Issue 50 48 mintes' work

cathyhanyeUID: 2971665

早晨抓紧时间赶了一篇，还没有来得及自己改。又超时了……

50"In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach."

10:10 – 10:58
48 minutes

Faculty in college and university often confronts the choice of staying purely focused on the academic research and teaching, or to undertake some outside work related to their field so as to gain cutting-edge skills and knowledge to enrich their instruction provided to students. Although academic and outside world indeed facilitate each other most of time, given the instinct characteristics of instructions at college and university level, cautions should be cast on encouraging all faculty members to be occupied by both academic and outside commitments.

The features of college and university education determine that importing experience from non-academic settings can facilitate faculty to inspire students and to provide more meaningful advice to college students. The instruction at college stands itself from those of elementary, secondary, and professional schools in offering students a variety of values, emphasizing heavily on their critical thinking skills, therefore assists students with developing their own value system and outlook of life. Although it is implausible to argue that professors living one’s life solely in the academia without much professional experience necessarily have less thoughts to inspire students, the outside working experience will undoubtedly expose faculty members in a much complex environment with different groups of people and tensions that entails, hence more likely to stimulate professors reflect deeper on one’s value system, and feed their students’ need.

In addition to developing a value system and imparting knowledge, colleges and universities are supposed to prepare students to become a capable and sophisticated future profession. The most powerful merit of outside working experience probably just lies in this aspect. Abundant working experience in a corporate related to one’s field would inform professors, both explicitly and implicitly, what characteristics that a corporate keenly target at when recruiting. This knowledge can directly be imparted to college students when they are still at school, therefore allowing them to pro-actively improve themselves to cater the need of their potential employers. The chances are thus good that college students who have been equipped with certain knowledge of job market trend find a satisfied job efficiently, and start their career path with less obstacles and clumsiness.

On the other hand, instructions at college and university level, which should correspond to the nature of a discipline finely rather than some standardized test provided in secondary school, might not necessarily be fueled with outside knowledge in some cases. Some less practical fields of study, such as philosophy and literature, has very limited non-academic directly related working fields. Actually, research in these fields naturally requires one to keep distance from mundane world to maintain the independence and integrity, which are crucial in attaining success in these disciplines. Participating outside work would only spoil the quality of the instruction in these cases, rather than enhance it, if at all.

In addition, the merit of valuing difference among people and each person’s independent spirits would be at great risk if demanding entire faculty to take a certain approach to improve their teaching. College and universities are places where the personality traits tremendously intertwined and implanted in faculty’s instructions, therefore establishing an obligatory standard for every faculty member is no difference than requiring K-12 teachers to attend norming tests and trainings to standardize them. Professors and instructors should have the right to maintain their own choices and beliefs in making progress, which probably fits them better, as people are more effective when highly self-motivated.

Considering the uniqueness of the instructions at the college and university level, such as exposing students with various thoughts and values and in preparing them for competing in the ferocious job market, it is legitimate or even necessary for some faculty members to undertake outside work to cater to students’ demand more effectively. Nevertheless, it becomes unwise if establishing a mandatory norm for each professor to do so, since the characteristics of different disciplines varies, and professors should be given freedom to choose the best way themselves in improving instructions.

cathyhanyeUID: 2971665

Revised:

College and university faculty often confronts the choice of staying exclusively focused on the academic research and teaching, or undertaking some outside work relevant to their field of research so as to enrich their instructions. Although academic and non-academic practice are indeed able to facilitate each other, given the instinct characteristics of instructions at college and university level, cautions should be cast on encouraging all faculty members to practice professions out of academia.

The purpose of the college and university education determines that a certain amount of practical experience will be beneficial. Instructions, as a crucial component of college and university education, are not only to impart knowledge of certain facts and methodologies to conduct research, but, more importantly, to expose students freely with a variety of values and encourage them to explore, so as to establish a stable and appropriate value system. The heterogeneous background of college faculty would better meet this end by importing more values, perspectives, and thoughts that prevalent in the actual professional world or business world, therefore helping rule out the possible stereotypes and stubbornness of faculty who has little meaningful contact with non-academic fields.

In addition to developing a value system and imparting knowledge, colleges and universities are supposed to prepare students to become capable and sophisticated practitioners. The most powerful merit of outside working experience probably lies in this aspect. Abundant working experience in a relevant field, either public or private sector, would inform professors, both explicitly and implicitly, the dynamics of the job market, or at least, what characteristics attract employers the most. If informing students with such knowledge, professors actually are assisting students to pro-actively adjust to the requirement of their future employers. If it indeed happens, chances are good for those students to find a satisfied job more efficiently, and start their career path with less obstacles and clumsiness.

On the other hand, instructions at college and university level, which should correspond to the nature of a discipline rather than standardized tests in secondary school, might not necessarily be enhanced with outside knowledge in some cases. Some less practical fields of study, such as philosophy and literature, have very limited non-academic relevant working fields. Actually, research in these fields naturally requires one to distant oneself from mundane world to maintain the independence and integrity, which are crucial in attaining success in these disciplines. Participating outside work would only spoil the quality of the instruction in these cases, rather than enhance it, if at all.

In addition, the spirit of respecting individuals’ freedom to make a choice, which is considered divine in colleges and universities, will be at risk, if demanding entire faculty to take a certain approach to improve their teaching. At college and university level, professors’ personality traits tremendously are implanted in faculty’s instructions. This feature actually draws students’ interest to a great extent, especially when they find their professors passionate about the discipline and have unique solutions to address related research issues. Establishing an obligatory standard for every faculty member is no difference than requiring K-12 teachers to attend norming tests and trainings to standardize them. Professors and instructors should have the right to maintain their own choices and beliefs in making progress, which probably fits them better, as people are more effective when highly self-motivated.

Considering the uniqueness of the instructions at the college and university level, such as exposing students with various thoughts and values and in preparing them for competing in the ferocious job market, it is legitimate or even necessary for some faculty members to undertake outside work to cater to students’ demand more effectively. Nevertheless, it becomes unwise if establishing a mandatory norm for each professor, since the characteristics of different disciplines vary, and professors should be given freedom to choose the best way themselves in improving instructions.