Dear Neng,
You have been inundated with references and as you note below, the debate has been raging for decades. In my experience, when you speak, people will be more interested in your views and why you hold them than citing reference after reference to what other people think. Sometimes academics fall into that habit-citing without expressing their own views. The work of Tversky, Kahneman, Greene, Haidt and others (including my focus on VABEs see www.nadobimakoba.com ) shows that people, even academics, tend to let their VABEs dominate rational, data-based thought. In my view,
1. Anyone, especially academics, who teach should be required to learn how to "facilitate learning" rather than "profess."
2. Research shows that adults learn best when they are working on issues/problems that are immediate and relevant for them (not the professor's)
3. Also, adults learn best when they are involved/participate. Lectures ignore this research.
4. Most universities reward publications above teaching which greatly diminishes the emphasis placed on classroom performance.
5. "Teaching" is not about covering material, rather "facilitating learning."
6. The number/proportion of people who have three skill sets--research, learning facilitation, and intimacy with practitioners-is low. Even having the first two, which you are exploring, is vanity unless we understand deeply the world of practicing managers.
7. Unless we can identify and explore people's VABEs, we are shooting peanuts at turtle shells. (add Ed Schein's work to those listed above). Real influence is that which touches on what people Value, Assume, Believe and Expect to be true. Hence, rational education is an uphill battle in pushing for change.
8. Having asked over 1,500 people worldwide about human habituality, I found they say on average at Level One (visible behavior) 75%, Level Two (conscious thought) 85%, and at Level Three (semi-conscious VABEs) 95+%. People tend to be strong creatures of habit. Hence, it's "no surprise" that university administrators trained in a "publish or perish" culture are reluctant to emphasize classroom performance much less encouraging consulting or case writing among practitioners.
9. A big issue here is "who is your primary audience?" Most academics would answer "other academics." Some would say "students." Some would say "practitioners." Many don't even think about that or offer a generalize "the pool of knowledge."
10. I applaud your effort to understand and express your views on the "teaching vs researching" issue. I hope you will add a third leg, the importance of connecting with practicing managers. How many managers read academic journals?
11. Finally, my book Teaching Management (Cambridge University Press) explores many of the issues you are wrestling with.
However you synthesize all of the recommendations you have been given, though, I still believe that your audience will want to hear what you think rather than a collage of what others think. And why you think what you think. This will require forming your own opinion(s).
From: Management Education and Development Discussion [mailto:MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.AOM.ORG] On Behalf Of Liang Neng
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2018 1:03 AM
To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.AOM.ORG
Subject: Reference for how the problems of business school reseach and teaching might be changed
Dear Jane
Thank you so much for all the references. I am aware of the long history of the debate. What I am particularly troubled is the fact that despite the general agreement on the problem of business schools nothing seems be changing. As far as I can recall, Mintzberg and a few others have been giving critical talks on this topic on almost every AoM conference. Is any body aware of any studies of how such persistent problem in management education might be changed? Or, is any school is making serious effort to change its incentive system that gives rise to the problem in research and teaching?
Neng Liang
From: Management Education and Development Discussion [mailto:MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.AOM.ORG] On Behalf Of Jane Robbins
Sent: 2018年4月16日 4:18
To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.AOM.ORG
Subject: Re: Reference for the importance of "faculty as teacher in management education"
In addition to the references already provided, I would suggest reviewing some of the critiques of management education that address faculty and teaching issues as part of curricular and structural challenges in management education. Many are studies in book form that cover a lot of ground, but some shorter articles echo or summarize the research. They go back many years . . . i.e., what you are interested in is a persistent issue. Here are a few items to look at if you have time:
Khurana, Rakesh, 2010. From Higher aims to Hired Hands. Princeton University Press.
Bennis, W. and O'Toole, J, "How Business Schools Lost Their Way," HBR, May 2005 makes some similar points, very short.
Alluto, J., "Issues Affecting Business Schools: A Dean's Perspective," Selections: The Magazine of the Graduate Management Admissions Council," Autumn 1991. If you can find it, survey highlighting differences between administrative and faculty goals. I can send a summary if needed; still relevant.
Porter, L., and McKibbin, 1988. Management Education and Development: Drift or Thrust into the 21st Century, NY: McGraw-Hill (GMAT study). As a side-note, Porter was a research assistant on a similar study done 30 years earlier, listed below.
Gordon, R., and Howell, J., Higher Education for Business, 1959, Ford Foundation/Columbia University Press and Pierson, F., The Education of American Businessmen, McGraw-Hill, 1958. These were somewhat competing studies, selectively used and interpreted at the time, largely considered the turning point to the current research focus.
It might also be useful to search Academy of Management Learning and Education and Journal of Management Education, which occasionally publish broadly relevant articles. Books such as Roger Martin's Future of the MBA and Henry Mintzberg's Managers Not MBAs take a future-oriented look at curriculum and its implications for teaching.
While I teach management and also do faculty development, I am a historian of higher education specializing in research universities and professional education, so feel free to contact me with any questions on any of the above.
On Fri, Apr 13, 2018 at 2:48 AM, Liang Neng <liangneng@ceibs.edu> wrote:
Dear colleagues
I am preparing a speech for the international association of Chinese management research (www.iacmr.org) on the topic of "faculty as teacher" in management education. I believe that the importance of faculty as teacher is vastly under emphasized and even neglected in many business schools. Because of the "publish or perish" pressure, we see some faculty care virtually only about their publications, and grossly neglected their role as an educator. Can any one point me to relevant studies or references on this topic?
Neng Liang, Ph.D.
Professor of Management, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
President, International Association of Chinese Management Research (IACMR)
8621 2890-5229; liangneng@ceibs.edu