Universities are losing direction by teaching at the expense of research

 

In Summary

• In addition, many universities have launched in-house journals that, although well intentioned as a means of publishing local and mostly young scholars, are simply a way of getting ahead in the career game.
• How can one teach courses in Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Kitale and Narok within a week and still remain sane? The trouble with our case is that we confuse the spread of universities with depth of knowledge and research.
• Unless more Kenyan academics become continuously engaged in research, the expansionist motif will only reproduce and mainstream mediocrity.

Towards the end of the First World War in 1917, students at Munich University, Germany, invited Max Weber, considered the father of social sciences, to deliver a lecture on the demands of a career in a university.

The result was the landmark text Science as a Vocation (Wissenshaft als Beruf) that continues to attract intense debate.

First, Weber used the German word “Beruf” deliberately to underscore the fact that a career in the academy is a calling; only select personalities are drawn to, and are fit for, a career in sciences. Fittingly, he used the term “scientist” to describe both the vocation and nature of a university lecturer.

While many see it simply as another way of earning regular wages, the academic must have both a commitment to science and an experience of science. The inspiration in the academy is not so much about teaching, but about research.

The role of science is to contribute as much as possible to the goal of improving our understanding of the world. Thus, a scientist must at all times be fascinated by a singular question or set of related questions.

The trouble in our universities is that teaching has eclipsed research. They are now spaces for transmitting “knowledge” in the form of notes and handouts rather than critical debate.

Weber warned against empty careerism in the academy. It is not for building status through lofty titles and making the most of the power that the lecture room confers the lecturer.

Few academics in Kenya are guided by “a single question”. As universities peg promotions on published papers, careerists have found means of getting publications without the research rigour that should accompany it.

Worse, universities reward such impunity by pegging promotions on quantity rather than quality. Cases of individuals coming up with dozens of publications in weeks are not strange.

We have scholars who appear to publish in every field, from construction, crop rotation, animal husbandry and tribal conflicts to language use. This is not science.

Matters have not been helped by the rise of pirate publishers promising academics that they can publish anything in any discipline within a month. Since few universities care where you publish, many local academics see nothing wrong in working with these “knowledge merchants” (mostly with Indian or Nigerian addresses).

IN-HOUSE JOURNALS

In addition, many universities have launched in-house journals that, although well intentioned as a means of publishing local and mostly young scholars, are simply a way of getting ahead in the career game.

Most are either single-issues strategically designed at getting a particular promotion or at best, are terribly irregular, have no web presence and have virtually no readership beyond the faculty.

Universities are also to blame for perpetuating careerism. The dizzying expansion has stretched university human resources to the limits. A career in science cannot possibly go in tandem with the maddening teaching across campuses and satellite universities.

How can one teach courses in Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Kitale and Narok within a week and still remain sane? The trouble with our case is that we confuse the spread of universities with depth of knowledge and research.

Science by its very nature is designed to be surpassed, or outdone by others. This means that academics must be engaged in continuous research and at the same time work with other researchers engaged with similar questions.

Unless more Kenyan academics become continuously engaged in research, the expansionist motif will only reproduce and mainstream mediocrity.

Being a great teacher does not necessarily mean one is a great scientist. Courses taught by great teachers are popular, while great scientists are more easily forgotten or appreciated too late.

Most university students are more impressed by classroom performance and theatrics than by the content of the lectures.

While it is possible to have a great teacher and a great scientist rolled into one, the trouble with our universities is that for every 10 great teachers we have, there seems to be only one scientist.

Dr Omanga is a lecturer in media studies at Moi University, School of Information Sciences (ankodani@yahoo.com)

Source: Nation