Employability Deconstructed

The new buzz word in Indian education is 'employability'. With slowing admissions because of both overcapacity and poor value to students, those in education are being told repeatedly that most graduates are not employable and that until the education sector is able to produce employable graduates, students will find it difficult to transition into careers. I have not checked it, however I am sure there are numerous definitions for the term 'employability'.

There seems to be no clarity at a functional level as to what 'employability' is or to put it more accurately, what it actually consists of. Industry experts opine that there is a lack of skills, many mention 'attitude' as the problem. Academic circles discuss 'knowledge, attitude, and skills' and when one tries to get to know what knowledge, attitude or skills, then either there is a long list or none at all.

To break down employability or classify the various components, it is useful to look at 'employability' as a bundle of qualities. Knowledge; about oneself,business and industry, and domain,
Skills that include life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, active listening and monitoring ability. Attitude; to career, to life in general and other human beings. career expectations and values need also to be right for someone to be really employable.

Sudhakar model of employability at the present moment looks like the list below.

I am now hoping my friend Vijay P will use this framework to write an article worth publishing in a journal. A lot of work on life skills has been done by the United Nations which can be one good reference. While there are no references here, most of the qualities listed have been proven by research as essential for 'employability'. Based on feedback I am happy to detail each of the dimensions.
Can we provide all of this to students who do not want to learn, have great expectations based on nothing and make transformational changes in the limited time a graduate or post graduate program offers? That is a question, primary, secondary and high schools need to ponder.
Look forward to feedback, as this is a topic where clarity is urgently needed for India! We should not end up doing the half bake differently, we need to do a good job on the whole.

The accidental keynote - Faculty Development Program at Surana College in Sept 2014

Good Morning. As teachers we have become experts at demanding obedience. Is obedience and conformance really important? Please think about this.

What is the first channel on your cable TV? Which one is set as channel No:1? Yes, Doordarshan. I am like the doordarshan channel coming and then you have a long list of speakers who are established as among the best in Bangalore.So, it will be a dull doordarshan followed by by some really wonderful channels.

I was wondering about how to engage a class of professors. Yes, remember when the Principal tells you that the faculty is absent and I do not want students loitering in the corridors, so, please engage the class. My situation is a bit like that. I need your cooperation more than anyone else.

I plan to spend the next half an hour talking about two things. First, to steal the thunder from speakers who will follow me, let me share my views about each of the topics that will be discussed today and tomorrow. 2^nd I want to share with you what I have learnt about teaching the post google generation.

A little bird told me Dr Srikanta has chosen his second most favourite topic to start the FDP today. For the benefit of faculty from Kengeri campus, let me tell you that from what I have heard, his favourite topic is ‘discipline’. Classroom management starts much before the class. Not only can a lesson plan that details pedagogy, resources to be used, a board plan, and  a complete learning design make managing the class easier, it optimises time for both the teacher and student.

You will then hear about Mentoring. The gurukula system thrived on mentoring. Socretes was possibly the first recorded mentor to Plato who was his protégé. Understanding each student and the world around us, apart from having an attitude of concern and understanding are essential qualities of a mentor.

This afternoon Dr Sandeep Shastri will be talking about moving from teaching to learning. This means colleges have to move from institutions providing instruction to institutions that produce learning. In instruction paradigm ‘instructor’ is central and in the learning paradigm ‘learner’ is central. Learning is all about discovering, experiencing, and reflecting. Will the role of the faculty reduce? We need to listen to Dr Shastri for all this and more.

The final discussion today will be an open house, where discussions, team work and feedback are important components.

Tomorrow we start the day at the very top. Prof Mala Sridhara will talk about a psychological approach to student –faculty interaction. Whether it is managing a classroom, mentoring, helping someone learn or providing feedback, understanding the mental model of the student is extremely important.

Next, we have a holy man looking at success in a holistic way. As teachers, we are generally measured only by university results or number of classes handled in a semester. This may not be right for today. Similarly, only test scores to compare students is surely limiting.

I am hoping to be back on stage to introduce Dr.Karajgi who is going to talk about stimulating creativity. What has creativity got to do with examination results where we have predefined syllabus? We are teaching Business and Commerce not art or drama. Dr Karajigi can tell us.

The topics are vry diverse. Is there any link at all or is this some variety program? To me all these talks are well connected to my next topic which is about college for the post Google generation.

We are used to thinking that obedience and following instruction is great, but, is it relevant now? Let us look at the history of organized colleges.

Schools and colleges were built for the industrial era where productivity was important. Factories wanted people prepared to obey, comply and behave and a system was set up to mass produce such people. The industrial age is over, however, we are still creating students who can do exactly what their boss wants them to do.

Google has made accessibility of information and knowledge really easy. One does not need to go to college to hear a good lecture, it is easily available at khanacademy.com. Whether Modi is the 15^th or 16^th Prime minister can be found out in 3 seconds on the net and there is no need for a teacher to provide this information.

In the post Google era we do not need memorization or compliance, we need dreamers with plans to realise their dreams.

Students will come to college not to be fed information or collect likely questions. They will come to college to learn to make and keep commitments, to overcome fear, to take initiative, to work in a team, to learn to enjoy diversity, and to work to a plan.

As teachers, our role needs to change to creating a desire for lifelong learning, to be innovative,  and, to express themselves students need to be taught how to collect, analyse, and understand the loads of data on the internet. We can teach students how to make a good decision, we can teach them about how to deal with a fast changing world. The list is endless. Colleges will be required and faculty will play a important role in the lives of students.

The various talks we are having these two days are all linked to understanding the changes that are taking place. So, while appears disconnected, they are all aimed at preparing us for some new realities.

Teaching is emotional labour, it is digging deep to engage at a personal level. The involvement needed to be good teachers is only increasing.

I am truly blessed to be able to address teachers on guru poornima. Thank you all for listening to Doordarshan, and, thank you Dr Srikanta and Smt.Archana Surana for giving me this opportunity.

Wish you all a wonderful two days of learning and fellowship with colleagues.