While I have previously invited higher education professionals active in a number of different fields on to this blog and will do so again, I thought this time around readers might be interested in a firsthand account of English language teaching in India.

Over the last four weeks, I have had the great pleasure of being invited to conduct English language and theatre workshops at Union Chapel School in Calcutta. I was and am truly delighted to be able to do this, as it enables me to draw on not only my language teaching experience but also my background in theatre.

I teach two groups of students in the fifteen to sixteen year age group, all of whom have a first language background in either Hindi or Bengali (Hindi is the national language of India, and Bengali is the language of the state of West Bengal). When I asked my students how they related to English – and if they felt that they were dealing with a foreign language, I got some interesting answers. Most felt that in fact they were simply dealing with another “Indian” language, in the same way that they might try and deal with one of the many languages of the country, except that in the case of English they could see an immediate “use” for their knowledge.

As a teacher, I think getting this kind of reaction from a student is pure gold. Affinity is half the battle. The idea that when one starts thinking in another language one has come close to native-speaker/first language speaker status is compelling. But what about when one starts feeling in another language? It’s for this reason that using theatre exercises and the support of a Shakespearean play (“As You Like It”) in these workshops, I think is particularly useful. Functional English can never be discounted, but enabling students to tap into their imagination through the medium of a new language allows them to develop a full or active presence in it. Active language, I think, has to go beyond the somewhat limited idea we have of what constitutes a language “skill,” and become a language capacity. By capacity I mean the nuanced ability to maintain your speaking position in the face of changing circumstances (or, as some would call it outside the world of the assessment rubric – life).

The logistical pressures of moving countries and cities – from London to Calcutta – and a nasty bout of flu meant that it was sensible to stay offline for a while.

Over the next few blogs I will seek to provide an overview of the educational climate in India, and the extent to which international alliances are changing or are likely to change the university experience .

Why are British universities seeking to find a presence in India?

The Indian government has plans to increase the number of university goers from a current 12 per cent of the population to 30 per cent. In plain terms this works out to a present university student population of 12 million, and a projected increase to 30 million. This is clearly a very ambitious plan and opinions are mixed as to whether it can or should be achieved.

In this first piece though I want to present a side to the global impact of the ongoing changes in the Indian university system that is seldom seen in the media.

That is, what is the university experience in India from the point of view of the student and the lecturer?

I went to school in Calcutta and also did my first undergraduate degree in the city. When I went to the UK to do my second undergraduate degree it wasn’t the differences in the educational culture that I noticed but rather the continuities. This was probably because both the school and university I attended were established in the nineteenth century when Calcutta was the capital of British India, and at the heart of a close engagement between the cultures of India and of Britain.

What I experienced in India was a meticulousness of detail and depth of approach which I am truly grateful for. Somewhere along the way I also became firmly imbued with the idea that the big picture matters. So valuing the humanities was important because it helped one to link the puzzle pieces of the world together.

A common expectation and hope amongst the educational community in India is, I think, that alliances with British or other overseas universities will mean more flexibility for students and teaching staff. By which I mean exposure to the arts, sciences and perhaps even technical knowledges together. It seems rather harsh to expect an eighteen year old to choose a “stream” and stand by it life-long.

A simple scan-through of the weekly educational supplement to the Kolkata edition of The Times of India gives a thumbnail picture of the kinds of degrees and career pathways being offered to current undergraduates. Management and science degrees predominate but there’s a wide range of IT -related and engineering courses, along with intriguingly specialist courses in things like wine-making, chocolate making and magicianship (though not at Hogwarts).

What I wonder as a global citizen and a teacher is this – how are we going to help students join the dots? Will the view that learning has value in and of itself because it nurtures creative and critical thinking hold in the new university environment being fashioned?

This wider view of the meaning and value of education already has a space both in India and in the UK. But I have also experienced the piece meal view – in both countries – that being educated in order to find and keep a job is all that’s needed.

It’s an interesting time to be in education – and I hope in succeeding pieces to chronicle more of the changes taking place. The future – not just for the UK and India but for the world – looks an utterly different place than most would have imagined it a mere ten years ago.

Also – a very happy women’s day to everybody from both Ritu and I.

Priyali: I know you’ve been travelling internationally to complete work contracts. How do you go about finding openings? Do you use an agency or is it down to your own research, and how do you decide who is a good employer?

Ritu: I maintain an extensive professional network through writing, reading and research. I make prospective employers aware of my work and establish a continuing dialogue to contribute significantly towards health, social research and policy. This also helps me to find and select the kinds of projects I am keen to work on.

Priyali: You are someone who grew up in India but now lives in the UK, and has spent some of her most formative years within it. Do you feel you have access to more than one culture, and does this make you attractive to prospective employers?

Ritu: When people ask I often say I was brought up in England. I have certainly established “belongingness” here in Britain. I feel very much part of its society and environment. I think the experience of working in two different nations and understanding how things get done, certainly benefits in maintaining contacts and sustaining networks. I have access to wide networks here and in India. We live in a globalized world and also an extremely competitive one. With people now having access to specific geographical locations they didn’t have before, they are presented with new challenges and dynamics. These present difficulties but can be dealt with successfully.

Priyali: This is your free space – go ahead and send a message out to other researchers, practitioners and readers of this blog as to what most engages you at this point in your life and career.

Ritu: I feel that universities should prepare PhD students, who often live an isolated life, for the outside world. They should encourage them to publish and provide continued support even after they graduate. Most PhD students feel misplaced and choose different career paths, due to little or no guidance or support from their universities. It’s even more difficult for migrants who would like to establish their careers outside their home country.

Also, I would like to add that Britain needs to rethink its position on international development. I feel that Britain’s capacity to make a difference in the developing world is huge. This needs to be planned carefully by considering intersections of race, gender and social inclusion.

People belonging to diverse backgrounds should be given opportunities to contribute to the international development sector through an equitable manner and process. This will help deal with issues of social exclusion within the UK that give rise to inequalities in the work environment.

She is an academic, researcher and activist with substantial experience in gender and human rights issues. She has country knowledge and experience of working in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Serbia, Denmark, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Ritu is a founder and moderator of the South Asian Sexual Health (SASH) Forum and an Editor of the AIDS-ASIA eForum.

She is also the Director of Spatial and Social Development Perspectives – UK.

http://ritumahendru.wordpress.com/about/

http://mishtimli.blogspot.com/

Priyali: Hi Ritu, welcome to the “Let’s Talk” blog which is a platform for people within higher education and those simply interested in it, to talk about the things that concern us.

First off, many congratulations on completing your doctorate in Sociology. Would you like to comment on your early career experiences now that you’ve got it under your belt? What are your career plans, and what do you think of the present job market in the UK and outside it?

Ritu: Thanks Priyali. As you are aware, opportunities for PhD graduates are sporadic. I have not had much success in securing a full time academic position in the UK, something that I was looking forward to after finishing my PhD. However, I have specific engagements with various UK universities. Elsewhere, I am in negotiation with universities to establish international programmes – this is a lengthy and time consuming process.

Preferably, I would like to teach Gender and Public Health from sociological perspectives, and engage myself in social research simultaneously. I do have a company and would like to keep that as a tool to continue my engagement with countries like India, Afghanistan, South Africa etc. It may appear that I am adhering to the doctrine of utilitarianism. However, the job market in the UK is bleak so I have created a job for myself and carved my own path. I am hoping that one day the situation within UK universities will change, and I will have a full-time position at a University here.

Priyali: What or whom do you hope to influence with your work as a social science researcher?

Ritu: I wouldn’t necessarily like to influence anyone. Instead, I would like to facilitate and/or provide space for discussions on the issues of migration, gender and health. This would create knowledge of social marginalization through theoretical and methodological understanding. I am interested in the conceptualisation of diasporas and health and how the two are deeply interlinked. I made initiatives to enable this dialogue and founded SASH – an online forum that attempts to address the sexual health needs of migrants  and diasporic communities in the UK.

Next post: 7 March. Dr. Mahendru comments on being able to work across cultures, and on career planning for doctoral researchers.

Vitae have posted this (2min) video about social media usage. The statistics are nuts — 50% of UK web traffic is for Facebook, for example. 93% of people trust peer recommendations while only 14% trust adverts, and this is key — social media is about people and connections, and the quality of connections is undeniably important for any researcher.

I like social media and the web, but am I really using them as well as I can to further my research?

Vitae’s Digital Researcher conference deals with just this. It’s at the British Library (Monday 20th Feb), and they’re opening it up online as well:

‘Digital Researcher Online will explore how new technologies and tools (microblogging, RSS feeds, social networking and social citation sharing) can be used to enhance your research and raise your professional profile.’

You don’t have to be a geek and you don’t have to spend loads of time on Facebook, Twitter or any other service, but with a bit of tweaking you can have relevant and timely information at your fingertips, and you can connect with others who are passionate about your field, and boy, can you market yourself.

I think it’s kind of like exercise — if you’re a gym hater, there’s no point making it a resolution to go three times a week. If you prefer running, do that instead. So if you love LinkedIn but aren’t keen on Twitter (assuming you have actually tried them and aren’t doing a Daily Mail hate-hate-hate-based-on-not-much) then fine, just use the tools that suit you.

I’m posting this because I’ve heard a few people say, almost proudly, that they ‘don’t really get this social media stuff,’ ‘don’t use the internet that much’ or ‘hate Facebook’. I’m think that’s a shame (although yeah, Facebook can be awful), and a bit short-sighted, because they may be failing to present themselves as well-developed professionals in touch with what’s going on outside of their specialism. So, have you checked recently what people see when they Google you?

For me, the web is exciting because I’m a writer, and there are so many new markets and chances for me with everything going on online, from micro-blogging fun to serious revenue-earning opportunities. I really believe that applies to everyone, and that social media doesn’t have to be complicated or time-wasting, just well-managed and thoughtfully applied. If anyone can help with that, it’s Vitae. (If you’re not signed up for their Researcher Bulletin, do it, great resources.)

Here’s the programme for the day (I think it’ll all be available afterwards too):

10:00 – Introduction
A short interview with Dr Tristram Hooley on Digital Researcher 2012 and the current digital landscape.

10:30 – 11:15 – Morning plenary
Join us online and tune-in to the opening plenary of Digital Researcher. During this session we’ll be covering academic practice, the role of social media and intellectual property.

15:45 – 16:30 – Keynote speaker Martin Weller (Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University and author of the ‘Digital Scholar’ book talking about ‘Digital Scholarship’.

John Igoe, Vitae’s Web Development Manager will be an online facilitator throughout the day. Join discussions on Twitter using the #dr12vitae hashtag.

The survey aims to look at students’ experiences of financial support including: accessing support, timing of payments, discretionary vs statutory support systems, the impacts of hidden costs, transport, accommodation, private loans and credit.  The NUS wants to hear from you about what you think works well – and what might need changing – about how you are supported.

The survey closes on the 12 February and respondents will be entered into a prize draw to win £500 or one of ten £50 prizes.For more information, go to the Pound in Your Pocket resource on NUS Connect. The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and can be completed confidentially. If you have any questions about this survey or indeed the wider research activity, please contact Alan Roberts, NUS Policy Officer on alan.roberts@nus.org.uk

Take part in the survey today!

I found this on Vitae — I’m studying in Wales so I can’t take it, but I think you should if you are eligible. Let’s have our voices heard and give those coming up behind us a better chance of making it without being in debt forever…

Apologies for being a bit off topic.

I think he meant by this that there is a craft and a science to producing that finished piece of work, whatever the discipline.  When the moment comes that you submit, defend and are finally awarded a doctorate by your examiners, you are being recognized as a worthy peer by the academy.

What is it then in your hands to do with the piece of work you have invested several years of your life in?

Publication – yes, but in what form and with whom? I was approached shortly after being awarded my doctorate by a company that wanted to publish my thesis. However, they did not have a peer review process. A friend of mine was similarly approached, and accepted. But she is a communications professional. The value of having her work out in book form supercedes the necessity of peer review. For someone like me who is building a career in scholarship, peer review makes the difference between work that will stand me in good stead when being considered for a lectureship, and work that may not carry so much weight.

How do you find the right publisher and the right audience for your work? Who will hold the copyright and for how long? How long will it take to appear in print?

To all researchers – please consider this an open call to write in with publication questions and answers. The greater our knowledge, the better our decisions.

As an Indian citizen who spends significant time living and working in the UK, I have been able to witness at first hand the changes taking place in the education sectors of both countries.

The Indian economy like the Chinese economy is expanding. India, like China, is investing heavily in education. New schools and universities are being founded at a steady rate.

British universities are looking to these two countries for expansion. The universities of Liverpool and Nottingham have already set up joint programmes and campuses in Xi’an Jiatong and Ningbo respectively.

I recently attended a meeting at which a reputed British university presented plans for a joint doctoral programme, to a group of senior faculty representing a number of established Indian universities. If the plan goes ahead, students will be able to show joint accreditation for their doctorates. Since a large part of the programme would be based in India, where both living expenses and tuition fees are significantly lower than in Britain, the overall cost of the doctorate would be reduced. A senior figure at the meeting remarked on the possibility that this could work not only in favour of Indian students seeking a UK degree – but also in favour of UK students wanting to cut down on university expenses.

I should mention of course that faculty at wellknown universities in India as with their counterparts in Britain, are highly distinguished. Students from both countries who are able to enroll  on such a programme should it go ahead, would also have that advantage on their side.

Are we going to see British students no longer simply taking a gap year in India but living and studying there in significant numbers? What will this mean for teaching methods, curricula and  – that impossible-to-define, mythical beast – global consciousness?

Is your department or university considering a move East?  If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts and expectations with reference to that?

Karen Kelsky runs an ‘academic-career consulting business’ to help students, basically, get jobs (writing grants, letters, CVs, publish etc.). She lambasts ‘absent’ professors for not providing this career advice. Maybe it’s different in the US, but I’ve never expected to get career advice from teachers at any level. It’s something I need, of course, but I don’t think of my supervisor as the perfect person to provide it. When I meet with him, we’re far too busy knocking my creative work and my thesis into shape — and that’s how I like it.

If and when I want more, like some help with getting the travel bursary I have my eye on, I will ask and I know I’ll get what I need. But the hour or so that we spend working on my project every month is precious, and I want to use it to focus on my writing, which is what he’s really good at.

Also, I want him to carry on being enthusiastic about my work, but also about his own. Not just so he publishes more and is therefore good to be associated with, but so that he is creatively fulfilled and satisfied, and therefore in a good place to be advising me, inspiring me, and making me feel that publication is possible. (As a creative writing student I’m talking about general publication as well as academic publishing.)

At my institution there is a Postgraduate Skills Training Programme as well as Continuing Professional Development courses, training and careers advisors. There’s a whole army of them. The system isn’t perfect, as there are so many students needing different things at different times, but it’s developing and has an essential role to play.

I feel that it’s up to me to look at my strengths and weaknesses and decide what to do about them and where to get advice. It’s also up to me to get off my backside and publish, network, write a great CV, blog, apply for grants and so on, all while I’m getting on with the main body of work. Postgrad skills training and my supervisor are both pretty clear that these are good things to do. Surely it’s obvious to any ambitious PhD student that you have to work hard and develop in all areas in order to succeed, whether you are aiming for an academic post or a corporate one.

The article is interesting, but I don’t like its hectoring tone, and it’s obviously an advert for her services. The comments section is even more telling; I am sad for the students who really do feel poorly advised. There are also quite a lot of profs pointing out just how much they have to do already without being academic career advisors as well (something which they aren’t trained for and may not know much about, not having been on the job market for a while)…and that the quality of their own research is very important to the success of the institution and their students.

Of course I want my PhD to result in a better job, I just don’t think the job-seeking part is up to my supervisors. In the main, it’s up to me.

It may seem strange to link the two things but I hope it will become clear why I am.

As reported in The Guardian last Saturday Mr. Schmidt said, “Over the past century the UK has stopped nurturing its polymaths. You need to bring art and science back together.”

My deepest sense of where we are – as a scholar and a human being – is that we need to renew our ability to make connections.

I write this blog to make connections with people I would never have the chance to communicate with otherwise.

Maybe the riots would not have happened if we had been better at talking to each other.

Maybe this is our chance to stop them from happening again.

Art and science. The working and the not working. The very educated and the less educated.

I don’t know when the idea that life and the world can best be described in binaries took such strong hold of us.

Can we soften and expand and shape our categories – instead of allowing them to control us?

How else can we make our work – and play – relevant and enduring?

What are the binary ideas you would like to change? Are you going to let your inner polymath out?