‘FAHAM'- A Discussion Forum of the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, organized its First Anniversary Lecture on “Ethics of Teaching” on March 19, 2019. Dr. Mohammad Sohail, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Public Administration, PU introduced the speaker, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Honorary Professor, Department of Education, Panjab University. Prof. Kumar in his lecture acknowledging the influence of modernity on teaching, pondered over the core ethical concern of what teaching is responsible towards? Teaching involves many endeavors such as pursuit of knowledge, building relations with younger generation and contributing towards the existing body of knowledge. According to him, the adage of responsibility can be observed in three core areas, i.e. institutions, students and subject/discipline. To understand the ethical demands on teaching, he viewed teaching as a relational activity and an instrument to transmit knowledge. As a relational activity, teaching involves building relationships with the students wherein it is not just limited to transfer of knowledge rather it makes the body of knowledge come alive and worth pursuing. Whereas, the instrumental approach perceives teacher as a means to transmit or make knowledge available. In this approach teaching involves absorbing, organizing and transmitting the essential part of the body of knowledge. He elucidated how the root of present ethical challenges of teaching lies in the evolution of teaching in the colonial era. The education policy has remained directionless since independence and there is need to acknowledge the presence of problem before devising any solution. The lecture was followed by discussion in which faculty members, researchers and students from various Departments of PU like Sociology, Economics, University Institute of Open Learning, Laws, English, Education, Community Education and Disability Studies, Physics, Geography, Women Studies, Mathematics, Philosophy, Hindi, Russian, History, Political Science, PUISER and from other institutions like Institute for Blinds, olivekids school, Co-veda, and Khalsa College of Education, participated. Ms. Seema Jagpal, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Public Administration, while throwing light on the year long journey of FAHAM, proposed the vote of thanks. |