Contrast is the mother of clarifications

A response that I provided on Facebook to a professional colleague who claims that academic toppers and meticulous screening selection process into the teaching profession ensures the quality learners...

Response 1:

The issue raised here intrigues me as it resonates with the perspectives that I shared with the readers of my blog when Kuensel editorial reported news on the teacher attrition. Allow me to revisit these views of mine.

There seems to exist a robust correlation between the high salary and a graduate’s motivation surrounding the application for the teaching profession. If the salary of the teachers is twice than that of any other professions, I am sure what you are looking for (academic toppers as pointed out) would be ascertained in a couple of years. I do not doubt that the vigorous screening processes (as cited ) would have no effects on the young graduates if they knew that their earnings were commensurable.

It would be like winning a million-dollar lottery if we could recruit and select academic toppers who are also positively disposed and embody persistent skills such as grit, tenacity, cogency, determination and growth mindset. I am sure such qualified and motivated teachers would be able to bring out quality students by an international standard in 2020, which is one of the milestones mentioned in the document titled Vision 2020.

However, a place for such policies seemed far-fetched when our economy is the smallest in the world, and when the national debt is sky rocketing. We can't give what we don't have. The issue now is what can we do to achieve the quality outcomes of our students by an international standard using the existing cohorts of teachers?

Development of brain is never a static, and thus undoubtedly, not a linear approach. The only difference between the intelligent and not so intelligent students is their pace of understanding a topic. It would be a naïve to think that not so intelligent students would never become a doctor or an engineer in life. These poorly gifted students might need more learning time and extra help from the teachers and parents. It would be a blunder to think that these two types of students cannot pursue the same dream. There is a modicum of truth in our indigenous saying in Dzongkha, “Rigpa ley tsendru dra”, which literally and contextually translates to grittier students perform better than their intelligent counterparts. Professors Duckwork and Dweck have spent their entire life researching on ‘grit’ and ‘growth mindset’. They found that students with growth mindset (and grittier their approach to any endeavours), succeed in life and do better than those intelligent but not so gritty and persistent peers.

What I am trying to postulate here is, the knowledge, talent and intelligence can be developed over a time if a person does not stop learning. Teachers with high academic marks alone cannot guarantee the quality outcomes. Not to say that we do not need smart people. However, an absence of such people is not the end of the story. Even if we have teachers who joined the profession out of compulsion or as a ‘last resort,’ if they are willing to sacrifice their time and put heart and soul into teaching, if they developed love for the profession by being in schools with kids and never stops learning, if they are willing to take risks and be grittier every time they encounter the obstacles, then the real treasure lies within such people. I would rather invest in these people, who I believe is struggling to thrive and survive in our schools. If we lose one such outstanding teacher, the implications might be catastrophic.

A case in point is different individuals have different personalities, capabilities, and intellectual gifts and the aim of education is to address three parts of these three psyches, namely the appetitive part, spirited part and rational part of psyche (Plato). A good person or a just society is more likely to experience three parts of psyche when there is a balance amongst these, as Plato realized that individuals were born with varied kinds of temperament, capacities, and intellectual endowments. Plato put forward a reason why there must be a system in education that would identify these individual differences, prepare the overriding part of a person’s psyche, and consequently accomplish the requirements of a fair society for a balanced order. People with appetitive psyche would be educated  to become farmers, builders, shopkeepers to satisfy the needs of others; those with highly spirited would become soldiers and policemen to ensure internal order and protect against the external threat; and  those with rational psyche would become the wise law-makers, reasonable judges, and supreme leaders of the state.
  

Response 2:

 

I believe the teaching training colleges likely considered cost implications when recruiting trainees through telephone or online mediums, as you mentioned. For instance, it would be costly for a young graduate to travel from Trashigang to Paro or Samtse. Moreover, as the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) is an autonomous body, they may view external suggestions as encroaching on their management style. RUB's teaching colleges aim to develop even the least motivated graduates, while the RCSC and MoE take the best. Without systemic changes, the situation might remain unchanged. My suggestion is to focus on the current teachers, preventing further demotivation and resignations. Retaining them until retirement requires addressing the root causes. To uphold quality education, especially to meet PISA standards, we must consider a range of factors and realities.

Response 3:

 
I am not refuting and nullifying your claims. In an ideal sense, your contention seems great. I can't imagine if our policy makers in the past copied and pasted these meticulous screening processes on our system in our times. Where would have been some of our policy makers? I think certain policies only work in certain contexts. It is good that we are inspired by the policies of these countries. However, I personally feel that Bhutanization is equally important. In pursuit of a Utopian dream, we shouldn't neglect the ground realities. I am just as eager to know which study reveals that there is no correlation between the teacher's salary and teacher attrition. And how and where do we draw a line between the expert and experienced teachers? How reliable is such research finding? We should critically evaluate research findings before accepting them as definitive. I'm sure you’re not implying there's no connection between a "love for learning" and the resources required to nurture that love in our consumer-driven world. Passion and perseverance, elements of grit, can indeed be cultivated within existing cohorts. A holistic approach might be more effective. We can’t simply replace experienced teachers with younger ones, no matter how enthusiastic they are, as this could be both impractical and costly.

"A quality education should ensure not just the attainment of high academic performance, but also the inculcation of the right skills, values and attitudes so that the school graduate is prepared for both life and the world of work and are a practitioner of the values and principles of Gross National Happiness (GNH). The quality of education therefore, determines the final outcomes for each child and ultimately for the entire country” (Ministry of Education, Bhutan, 2013).