Chiang Mai Journal of Science

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Universities have long been places where new ideas are created, tested and modified before eventually finding their way into the mainstream of  society.  They are places where the combined body of teachers and students is focused firmly on the creation, propagation and application of new knowledge.  Up until now, universities have been able to shelter and pursue this mission. Today’s system of  higher education addresses its teaching function (propagation of knowledge) not only to the children of society’s elite but also to the children of  society at large.  Universities, like society itself, are becoming multicultural market places with components of  complexity and diversity.
Yet the dramatic expansion in their teaching role pales in comparison with the explosion of  research that has occurred in universities since the latter half  of  the last century.  According to conventional wisdom, these teaching and research activities should be mutually reinforcing.  In effect, the argument goes that good researchers make good teachers because the research process allows them to bring a critical vitality to the classroom.  But does it really?
Research can be considered to be an advanced version of  learning since it leads to the acquisition of new knowledge.  Teaching, on the other hand, is the process of imparting knowledge.  It therefore seems quite logical that society has charged academic scholars with the dual responsibility of acquiring new knowledge (research) and transmitting this knowledge to others (teaching).  Ideally, the dissemination of new knowledge should be linked as closely as possible to its discovery. However, too often in our academic society, teaching and research are treated as separate, if  not mutually exclusive, activities. An academic staff member tends to be regarded either as a good teacher or a good researcher, but seldom both.  The reasoning behind this seems to be that fewer research publications can be expected from the good teacher because of  his/her teaching responsibilities, while at the same time we excuse the good researcher for mediocre lectures because of  all the time he/she spends in doing research work, writing papers and supervising research students.  In reality, neither of  these two extremes exists in the vast majority of  cases. Most of  the academic staff, even in so-called research-oriented universities, both teach and do some kind of  research, although obviouslywith different impacts on students and knowledge in general.  Indeed, the characteristics of  a good researcher in today’s academic world are probably quite hostile to good undergraduate (and graduate) teaching. Research reputations are usually built on intensive work in a very narrow field of specialization, such that the students produced by this system tend to be clones of  their mentors.  In contrast, teaching at undergraduate/graduate levels requires a breadth of knowledge rather than an in-depth orientation.
Thus, teaching and research are both legitimate missions of  a university.  Both require creative effort and the resources necessary to support those efforts.  We must continue to devise methods to encourage, support and reward creativity in teaching and teaching-related research.  Administrators should guard against thinking that good researchers cannot be good teachers; that somehow the act of  teaching will adversely affect research quality; that researchers do not have time to teach.  Research and teaching are not antithetical; rather they are complementary in a curiously intertwined way that finds its place in a university environment.
In Thailand, many established universities are now aspiring to become research-oriented institutions and, in doing so, are placing a high priority on enhancing institutional prestige. However, the current wisdom holds that institutional prestige is enhanced by research excellence rather than by good teaching. As a result, teaching is often perceived to take second place behind research when considering rewards and promotion.  Emphasis is placed on research publications with teaching as a bonus.  Soon, Thai state universities will become autonomous (i.e., able to operate outside the government system).  Tenure-track teaching appointments are already becoming a part of  this new system.  It is with a sense of foreboding that, in common with many overseas universities, we may eventually see a culture of “publish or perish” enter the university scene here in Thailand.

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