On students' complaints
There are various sorts of students' complaints: some are quite reasonable, some not. I want to discuss it from the perspective of omnicompetence. [Omnicompetence implies human development which covers the pursuit of truth, plenty, good and beauty; omnicompetence focuses on self-directed process of improving capacity to perform effectively (Ackoff, 1981)].
First of all, some examples of students' complaints: too much reading required from the lecturers; insufficient supervisor support to do finaly year projects; too much homework to do; examination scope too broad; lectures delivered are unfocused; course content has little practical value; and, finally, the degree qualfications obtained do not help to improve employability, etc.. Now, let me talk about self-fulfilling prophecy. When students are not satisfied, teachers become dissatisfied; education centre bosses also become dissatisfied. That triggers more efforts to control the situation, which further worsens the situation. This is a case of self-amplifying system and can be considered as a case of self-fulfulling prophecy: that is: teachers are not good and "investment" in education has low return on investment. This can be roughly depicted in the following diagram:
Such a case that we now have also reflects the limitation of omnipotence (which implies control of others). A better way to get out of the vicious cycle is to adopt pursuit of omnicompetence on the parts of all the major stakeholders involved. Omnicompetence is an unlimited ability to satisfy one's desires and those of others. Omnicompetence implies self control. Ackoff(1981) has explained the notion of omnicompetence at some length. My understanding is as follows: for teachers: if you want students to learn effectively, you need to be an effective learner youself, and then you try to inspire students to be effective leaners themselves. For students: to learn effectively, you learn to be effective learners yourself; effective learning cannot be imposed externally. Education centres also need to pursue omnicompetence, and not the narrow objective of profit-maximization, etc. By doing that, many of the current students' complaints can be addressed effectively.
I am aware that I have not sufficiently develop clearly my line of reasoning. I do want to emphasize that externally imposed learning is stressful, ineffective and very expensive to do. This approach, which endorses omnipotence, leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy: that studying for an academic degree doess not contribute to effective learning and has little practical value. It is a waste of time and it does not improve students' employability. In this case, as in many other problems we encounter in life, I believe we need to look inward to seek for an effective solution. And I think the answer has to with omnicompetence. That is self-control (omnicompetence) is better than control of others (omnipotence) in responding to students' dissatisfactions and students' learning concern. Finally, what I am told by students about their dissatisfaction with our education system and teaching quality are, in my view, valid complaints from the perspective of omnipotence. They are, on the other hand, avoidable from the perspective of omnicompetence.
Reference
Ackoff, R.L. (1981) Creating the corporate future, Wiley
First of all, some examples of students' complaints: too much reading required from the lecturers; insufficient supervisor support to do finaly year projects; too much homework to do; examination scope too broad; lectures delivered are unfocused; course content has little practical value; and, finally, the degree qualfications obtained do not help to improve employability, etc.. Now, let me talk about self-fulfilling prophecy. When students are not satisfied, teachers become dissatisfied; education centre bosses also become dissatisfied. That triggers more efforts to control the situation, which further worsens the situation. This is a case of self-amplifying system and can be considered as a case of self-fulfulling prophecy: that is: teachers are not good and "investment" in education has low return on investment. This can be roughly depicted in the following diagram:
Such a case that we now have also reflects the limitation of omnipotence (which implies control of others). A better way to get out of the vicious cycle is to adopt pursuit of omnicompetence on the parts of all the major stakeholders involved. Omnicompetence is an unlimited ability to satisfy one's desires and those of others. Omnicompetence implies self control. Ackoff(1981) has explained the notion of omnicompetence at some length. My understanding is as follows: for teachers: if you want students to learn effectively, you need to be an effective learner youself, and then you try to inspire students to be effective leaners themselves. For students: to learn effectively, you learn to be effective learners yourself; effective learning cannot be imposed externally. Education centres also need to pursue omnicompetence, and not the narrow objective of profit-maximization, etc. By doing that, many of the current students' complaints can be addressed effectively.
I am aware that I have not sufficiently develop clearly my line of reasoning. I do want to emphasize that externally imposed learning is stressful, ineffective and very expensive to do. This approach, which endorses omnipotence, leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy: that studying for an academic degree doess not contribute to effective learning and has little practical value. It is a waste of time and it does not improve students' employability. In this case, as in many other problems we encounter in life, I believe we need to look inward to seek for an effective solution. And I think the answer has to with omnicompetence. That is self-control (omnicompetence) is better than control of others (omnipotence) in responding to students' dissatisfactions and students' learning concern. Finally, what I am told by students about their dissatisfaction with our education system and teaching quality are, in my view, valid complaints from the perspective of omnipotence. They are, on the other hand, avoidable from the perspective of omnicompetence.
Reference
Ackoff, R.L. (1981) Creating the corporate future, Wiley
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