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DoctoralEducationandtheTeachingFunction
ThemarketforbusinessPhDswillvalueandrewardthosePhDgraduateswhohaveaspecificproficiencyinteachingbe
theyeducators,researchers,orsophisticatedpractitionersarguesProfessorArunPereira.

PhanishPuranammakesacompellingcaseformodifyingthetraditionalmodelofdoctoraleducation
throughspecialisedtracksthatwouldleadtoPhDspecialists.Thethreetypesofspecialisttrackshe
suggestsareresearcher,educator,andthesophisticatedpractitioner.Also,heproposesasetof
minimumrequirementsinthecurriculumthatwouldbecommontoalltracks.Ithinkthereisastrong
casetobemadetobroadenhisproposedcommoncurriculumtoincludethefunctionofteaching,
becauseirrespectiveofthespecialisation,allthreetypesofPhDswouldbeexpectedtoperformateaching
role,albeittovaryingdegrees.
EventhemostresearchintensivebusinessschoolsthatrecruitresearcherPhDswillrequirethem
toteach,andexcelinteachingeveniftheteachinghoursarelimited.Itmaybetruethatthe
sophisticatedpractitionerPhDmaynotteachonaregularbasishowever,suchapersonwouldfit
theprofileofaguestspeaker,adjunctfaculty,orvisitingfacultyinanacademicsetting,orlikelybe
involvedinlearninganddevelopmentfunctionsinthecorporateworld.
TheeducatorPhDwouldobviouslybeexpectedtobeproficientinteachingandrelatedareas,butIbelieve
thattheresearcherPhDandthesophisticatedpractitionerPhDwillalsobevaluedaseffectiveteachers,
andthePhDmarketwillexpectthemtobeso.Eventhemostresearchintensivebusinessschoolsthat
recruitresearcherPhDswillrequirethemtoteach,andexcelinteachingeveniftheteachinghoursare
limited.ItmaybetruethatthesophisticatedpractitionerPhDmaynotteachonaregularbasishowever,
suchapersonwouldfittheprofileofaguestspeaker,adjunctfacultyorvisitingfacultyinanacademic
setting,orlikelybeinvolvedinlearninganddevelopmentfunctionsinthecorporateworld.Inotherwords,if
ProfessorPuranamsPhDmodelgetswideacceptance,thenIexpecttoseethatprogrammeswitha
teachingfunctionaspartoftheirgeneralcurriculumrequirementwillproducePhDswhoaremorevaluedin
themarket,thanprogrammeswithoutthiscomponent.
Thequestionis:howshouldteachinganditsrelatedareasbeaddressedinthecurriculumofaPhD
programme?Thisisavexingissue,particularlybecausemostteacherstaketimetodevelop,andtypically
needthehardgrindofexperiencetomatureaseffectiveteachers.However,thisprocesscanbe
acceleratedwithanappropriateteachertraininginterventionideally,earlyinanacademicscareerto
helpmovethenoviceteacherupthelearningcurvequickly.Onesuchinterventionisadoctoral
consortiumonteachingthatinvitesfinalyearPhDstudentsfrombusinessschoolsdoctoralprogrammes
forintensiveteachertrainingandcoaching,beforetheyembarkontheiracademiccareers.Sucha
consortiumwasorganisedbytheIndianSchoolofBusiness(ISB)in2012.
Thequestionis:howshouldteachinganditsrelatedareasbeaddressedinthecurriculumofaPhD
programme?Thisisavexingissue,particularlybecausemostteacherstaketimetodevelop,and
typicallyneedthehardgrindofexperiencetomatureaseffectiveteachers.

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ISBsDoctoralConsortiumonTeaching:ATrainingIntervention
TheCentreforTeaching,Learning,andCaseDevelopmentatISBpilotedtheDoctoralConsortiumon
Teachingin2012andinvitedfinalyearPhDstudentsfromIndiasbusinessschooldoctoralprogrammes.
Theresponsewasoverwhelming,andtheparticipantfeedbackwasexcellent,helpingmakethecasefor
suchaprogrammetobeaninterventionforPhDsbeforetheygraduate.
ThisconsortiumhascaughttheattentionoftheInternationalSchoolsofBusinessManagement(ISBM),
whichisagroupof12internationalbusinessschools,includingKelloggNorthwestern,SternNewYork
University(NYU),INSEAD,LondonBusinessSchool,Bocconi,HECParis,IMDZurich,ChinaEurope
InternationalBusinessSchool(CEIBS)Shanghai,andtheISB.Aspartofitsmissiontoimprovethe
qualityofteachinginbusinessschoolsacrosstheworld,ISBMrunsatwoweekresidentialteacher
trainingprogrammecalledtheInternationalTeachersProgramme.Thisprogrammehasbeenheld
annuallysince1971andhastrainedover1,300businessfaculty.However,ithasbeenoutsidethe
financialreachofmostIndianbusinessschools.Assuch,ISBMhasbeenlookingforadifferentmodel
thatcanworkinIndia,andtheyhaveseeminglyfoundoneinISBsDoctoralConsortiumonTeaching.The
ISBMBoardhasofferedtosponsortheDoctoralConsortiumonTeaching,sothatisaffordableforIndias
doctoralstudents.
KeyObjectivesofISBsDoctoralConsortiumonTeaching
TheconsortiumwilladdressvariousissueswithregardtoteachingexcellenceintheMBAclassroom,
includingthecriticalelementofoneononecoaching.Theaimistoexposedoctoralstudentstotriedand
testedpracticesaswellasexcitingemerginginnovationsintheareaofteaching.ItwillhelpPhD
students
getaheadstartindevelopingtheirownindividualteachingstyle,byfirstunderstandingwhatenablesdeep
andlonglastinglearning.Thus,traditionalcasewritingandcaseteachingwillbeaddressed,aswellasthe
valueofactivelearningthatisstudentcentred,asopposedtotheteachercentredmodel.Further,the
consortiumwillhighlightinnovativeapproachestoeffectiveteachingbytakingadvantageofnew
technologiesforexample,todaystechnologyenablestheflippedclassroomwheretraditionallectures
(passivelearning)canbetakenoutoftheclassroomandofferedasassignments,andtraditionalgroup
assignments(activelearning)canbebroughtintotheclassroomtobemanagedbytheteacherformore
effectivelearning.
Conclusion
IexpectthemarketforbusinessPhDstovalueandrewardthosePhDgraduatesthathaveaspecific
proficiencyinteachingbetheyeducators,researchersorsophisticatedpractitioners.Oneapproachto
ensuringthatIndiasPhDgraduateshavethefoundationtobuildsuchproficiencyistoprovidean
appropriateinterventionbeforetheybegintheircareers.ISBsDoctoralConsortiumonTeaching,
sponsoredbytheISBM,hasthepotentialtobeonesuchinterventionthatcanhelpprovideafoundation
forourPhDs,bytargetingthemintheirfinalyearoftheirdoctoralstudies.Further,theconsortiumwill
attempttosparkachangeintheapproachtoteachingandlearninginIndia,byencouragingthenext
generationofIndianbusinessschoolfacultytomovefromthetraditionalsageonthestagemodeltoone
wheretheteachertakesontheroleofaguideontheside.ItwillencourageIndiasfutureteachersto
embracenewinitiativesliketheflippedclassroomsothatbusinessschoolsinIndiacanreverberatewith
studentcentred,activelearning.
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