Abstract -- Structured group interviews with Thai and Indonesian educators indicate that expatriate experts require a wide range of personal and professional ...
EXPATRIATE 'EXPERTS' IN INDONESIA AND THAILAND: PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL QUALITIES FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND CONSULTING ROBERT A. CANNON
Abstract -- Structured group interviews with Thai and Indonesian educators indicate that expatriate experts require a wide range of personal and professional qualities to be effective: they must have expertise, be able to estabfish and maintain good relationships with people, be well organised and effective teachers, and transfer information and skills that are applicable and of benefit to the nation. None of these qualities is simple or uni-dimensional. The study shows, for example, that 'expertise' has several elements including technical expertise, cultural knowledge, language ability and expertise in education. Practical implications of the findings are in overseas project design, management and placement of personnel, professional development of experts, and in the design, implementation and evaluation of teaching and training. Zusammenfassung -- Strukturierte Gruppeninterviews mit thail/indischen und indonesischen Erziehern zeigen, dab augebiirgerte Experten weitreichende pers6nliche und berufliche F/ihigkeiten ben6tigen, urn wirksam arbeiten zu k6nnen: Sie miissen Fachwissen besitzen, gute Beziehungen zu Menschen kn/ipfen mad aufrechterhalten, gut vorbereitete und effektive Lehrer sein und Informationen und F/ihigkeiten vermittein, die anwendbar und von Nutzen fiir die Nation sind. Keine dieser Qualit/iten ist einfach oder einseitig. Die Studie zeigt zum Beispiel, dab Fachwissen mehrere Bereiche umfagt, wie z.B. technisches Fachwissen, Kulturkenntnisse, Sprachf/ihigkeiten und Fachwissen auf dem Gebiet der Erziehung. Praktische Folgerungen aus diesen Feststellungen finden sich in Projektentwiiffen in lJbersee, Management und Personaleinsatz, beruflicher Entwicklung yon Experten sowie Entwurf, Durchffihrung mad Evaluierung von Lehren und Fortbildung. R6sum6 -- Des interviews structurdes de groupes avec des 6dncateurs tha'fs et indongsiens indiquent que les experts expatri6s ndcessitent mac large gamme de qualit6s personnelles et professionnelles pour 6tre efficaces: ils doivent 6tre expdrimentgs, 6tre capables d'gtablir et de malntenir de bolmes relations avec les gens, 6tre des enseiguants bien organisds et efficaces, ils doivent transmettre des informations et des comp6tences qui sont applicables et profitables /t la nation. Aucune de ces qualitgs n'est simple ou unidimensionnelle. Cette gtude montre, par exemple, que la "comp6tence" englobe plusieurs 616ments, tels que la compdtence technique, la connaissance culturelle, l'aptitude linguistique et la comp6tence pgdagogique. Les rgsultats obtenus ont des implications pratiques dans la conception des projets d'outre met, l'administration et le recrutement du personnel, le ddveloppment professionnel des experts, au nivean de la conception, de la raise en oeuvre et de l'gvaluation de l'enseignement et de la formation.
The Context Australia, like several Western nations, provides substantial technical and International Review of Education-Internationale Zeitschrift fiir Erziehungswissenschafi-Revue Internationale de Pe'dagogie 37(4): 453--472, 1991. © 1991 Unesco Institute for Education and Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
454 educational assistance to developing countries. For example, nearly one quarter of Australia's assistance is concentrated in the Southeast Asian region. The Australian Government, through the Australian Development Assistance Bureau (A/DAB) -- the Government's formal provider of overseas aid -- finances a large number of 'experts '1 in the region and currently spends more than SA 1 billion on all overseas aid (Australia's Overseas Aid
Program 1990-91:12.) Many experts work in formal education, training or advisory roles. It is reasonable to ask what seem to be the qualities of effective teaching and training activities that these roles demand. Such enquiry may lead to the development of a body of advice about teaching and training that can inform experts about their role. Although large numbers of experts are working in developing countries, it must be recognised that their contributions are seriously questioned on grounds of relevance (Bosquet 1976; Edwards 1989) and of their impact on development (Macbean and Balasubramanyan 1978; Verspoor and Leno 1986). The need for overseas experts in some areas must also be questioned. There is a growing number of very well qualified and experienced professionals in the developing countries. These professionals often have the capacity to provide excellent development advice because of their technical qualifications and superior knowledge of the local language, needs, customs and politics. In future, more effective and efficient development assistance -where it is required -- might be provided by exploring ways of supporting the work of such professionals rather than finding experts from overseas. In the short term, however, there will be a continuing flow of experts into existing and new development aid projects and an expanding exchange of professionals between institutions in the developing and in the more developed countries of the world. In these contexts, this paper addresses the question of the personal and professional qualities of experts called upon to teach and to provide advice in two Asian countries that are recipients of substantial Australian assistance: Thailand and Indonesia.
Approach The paper has, as one of its purposes, the development of advice on good teaching practice. It assumes that one particularly valid source of advice will be from practising educators. Accordingly, thirteen 'structured-group interviews' were conducted in 1989 with 168 Indonesian and 36 Thai academics and teachers from six different educational institutions to gather descriptive information about their views on experts: see Table 1. The groups, comprising volunteer respondents from each institution, included women and men from a very broad range of disciplines and specialities. University and IKIP staff were from the disciplines of Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Economics, Education and
455 Table 1. Structured group interviews: Indonesia and Thailand.
Country and institution
Type of institution
Indonesia Hassanudin University (Unhas) University of Indonesia IK1P Surabaya Regional Centre (Ujungpandang, Sulawesi) Vocational Teachers' Upgrading Centre (VTUC) (Jakarta) Thailand Srinakharinwirot University (SWU): Bang Saen Campus Prasarnmit Campus Pathumwan Campus
University University Teachers' College Teachers' upgrading centre Teachers' upgrading centre and vocational teacher training
No. of respondents Group 1
Group 2
15 25 20 18
20 15 16 --
17
22
14 6 5
11 ---
University (with emphasis on education)
Physical Education, Agriculture, Social Science, Humanities, Languages, and Technology. Staff from the teacher upgrading institutions in Indonesia were from the vocational specialities of Food, Clothing, Business Studies, Hairdressing, from Educational Adminstration and from Media. The experience of group members with experts ranged from considerable -- some had studied for degrees in overseas universities and had worked as counterparts with long and short-term experts -- to others who had very limited experience. Because of the organisational complexities involved in setting up the group interviews, no attempt has been made in this study to distinguish between group members according to gender, discipline or experience. The paper also draws on interviews with Australian experts (n = 7), with education professionals in Thailand and Indonesia (n --- 7), on experts' reports and on the published literature on development, particularly on development in education. The 'structured-group interviews', developed from the nominal group technique (Delbecq et al. 1975), proceeded as follows: -- The purpose of the project was explained together with the structuredgroup interview procedure to be followed. -- The 'interview' question, printed on a single sheet (in English -- for Thailand -- or in Indonesian -- see Appendix 1), was distributed to each participant with the invitation to list on the sheet as many qualities of the effective adviser or expert as they wished and with the instruction to prepare the listing individually.
456 When respondents completed their personal lists, they were invited to offer one point at a time for listing on a large whiteboard at the front of the meeting room. The listing proceeded in the 'round-robin' maturer recommended by Delbecq in his description of the nominal-group technique so as to maximise individual contribution to the process. -- After each of the different points respondents had recorded had been listed on the board and clarified, each respondent was then asked to select from the summary listing on the whiteboard the f i v e items he or she considered to be the most important qualities of experts and then to write these down on a response slip. -- The five items selected were then rated, or voted on, in order of importance using the method described by Delbecq. -- The (anonymous) voting slips were then collected for analysis. --
At each group meeting the author was assisted by a bilingual counterpart, who was also a member of the institution from which the group was drawn. Each counterpart had arranged the group meetings and also provided essential data recording and translation assistance during the group interviews.2
Analysis
All items listed on the whiteboards were recorded in English and translations cross-checked with counterparts and English-speaking respondents from the groups. Votes were recorded for each item and subsequently converted by linear scaling to a 'score' with a range of 0: -- no votes recorded at all, to 100: -- the most highly rated item from a particular country group. All items were then assigned by two judges to five broad categories of professional and personal qualities appropriate for experts conducting teaching activities. Categories were developed from earlier work on teacher effectiveness (Cohen, Trent and Rose 1973; Marsh 1987). The qualities were categorised as follows: ---
--
O r g a n i s a t i o n : this refers to the ways in which teaching has been organised and prepared for. Instruction: this refers to all matters directly concerning the act of teaching and learning, and to the assessment of learning and feedback to students. Relationships: this refers to the ways in which teachers relate to their students. Personal qualities are an important aspect of this category because of their fundamental importance in any relationship.
Two further categories were indicated by the information provided by the groups in Thailand and Indonesia and by interviewees. These two categories, which reflect aspects of teaching and general professional competency, are:
457
Course content: this refers to the subject-matter, or content, included in the curriculum by the expert. Expertise: this includes professional expertise as well as expertise in the culture, understanding of local issues, and ability to communicate in the local language.
Results and Discussion
The qualities listed by the respondents in the structured groups generally fall into the categories specified above, although inevitably there are the few that could reasonably be assigned to more than one category. Considered together, in their categories, the qualities describe aspects of professional and personal conduct considered to be important and relevant in the eyes of the people with whom the expert must interact. Considered comparatively, the categories give a general picture of the relative importance of different personal and professional qualities. For example, a simple count of the number of qualities listed by respondents in the five different categories gives the distribution shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Distribution of qualities -- Indonesia and Thailand. Category of qualities Relationship Expertise Instruction Course content Organisation Total
Indonesia No. Percent
Thailand No. Percent
59 64 40 11 10
32 35 22 6 5
41 20 5 2 --
60 29 8 3 --
184
100
68
100
Precedence is given by respondents to qualities of Expertise and Relationship. Instruction, Course content, and Organisation, are seen to be relatively less important. (However, it can be argued that Course content and Organisation are implicit in the expert's Expertise and in the quality of Instruction, respectively.) The relative importance assigned by Thai and Indonesian educators to different qualities is further illustrated by examining the five top-rated items from each of the groups interviewed. The importance of Expertise and Relationship is again illustrated. Table 3 presents expert's professional and personal qualities rated most highly by the four groups of Thai educators. The full inventory of the 68 items describing the qualities is available
458 Table 3. Qualities and ratings -- Thailand.
Rating of professional and personal qualifies of experts (1 = highest rating, 2 = second highest rating, etc. etc.)
Category
Institution and group
1, 2, 3. 4, 5. eq 5. eq
Very good academic knowledge Experience Good human relationships Well informed in national characteristics Can apply educational technology Know about Thai educational system and teaching 5. eq With Thai cultural background
Expertise Expertise Relationship Expertise Instruction Expertise
SWU Bang Saen-1
1. 2. 3.
Expertise Relationship Relationship
Expertise
4. 5.
Be an expert in his/her field Has good human relationships Be sincere to help our country and transfer knowledge to Thailand Has good personality Understand Thai culture
Relationship Expertise
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Academic excellence Knowing Thai cultural background Having human relationships among participants Being broad minded and accepting others ideas Willing to work with Thai people
Expertise Expertise Relationship Relationship Relationship
SWU Pathumwan
Expertise Expertise
SWUPrasarnmit
1. 2.
Expertise in particular field Understanding of Thai culture and relationships among Thai educational aspects 3. Good communication skills 4. Be able to apply knowledge in any situation 5. eq Be in good health 5. eq Creative in new ideas and models 5. eq Specialised in instructional techniques
SWU Bang Saen-2
Instruction Course content Relationship Expertise Instruction
separately from the author. The most highly rated qualities listed in Table 3 are reported in the words used by respondents and have not been edited. Table 4 presents professional and personal qualities of experts rated most highly by the nine groups of Indonesian educators. The full inventory of the 184 items describing the qualities is available separately from the author. The qualifies listed in Table 4 are reported in the words used by respondents and have not been edited.
Characteristics of Effective Teaching by Overseas Experts The following discussion seeks to explain and to describe each of the categories both in the terms of the qualifies identified by respondents to the
459 Table 4. Qualities and ratings -- Indonesia. Rating of professional and personal qualities of experts Category (1 ~ highest rating, 2 ~ second highest rating, etc. etc.)
Institution and group
1. 2.
IKIP-Surabaya l
Competent/expert in his field Ideas and approaches should be applicable in Indonesian setting Should make the effort to be as communicative as possible when teaching Should have a good personality (sense of humour and friendly) Should be able to speak Indonesian
Expertise Course content
Expertise Instruction Instruction
5.
Have a speciality Good verbal communication Can find more effective teaching method suitable to Indonesian conditions Willing and able to pass on their knowledge and skill Experience in teaching in their discipline
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Can speak/understand Indonesian Friendly Professionality Knowledge of theory and practice Practical knowledge-applicable
Expertise Relationship Expertise Expertise Course content
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Explaining matter systematically and efficiently Material prepared and submitted to students Broad knowledge of Asia and subject Communicated well Good English
Instruction Organisation Expertise Instruction Expertise
Unhas - 1
1.
Organisation
Unhas - 2
2. 3. 4. 5.
Material well prepared and distributed to students/up to-date and relevant Teaching method Language: Bahasa Indonesia Media Consultation after the course
Instruction Expertise Instruction Instruction
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Subject expertise Ability to adjust to local need Responsibility for programme achievement Has relevant experience Clear explanation
Expertise Relationship Relationship Expertise Instruction
Uni Indonesia 1
I. 2. 3. 4.
Competence in teaching and research Knows characteristic and culture of Indonesia Motivating personality Consultant has access to scientific eentres and researchers in the discipline Emphasis on benefit for Indonesian conditions
Expertise Expertise Relationship Expertise
Uni Indonesia 2
3. 4. 5. 1. 2. 3. 4.
5.
Instruction Relationship Expertise IKIP-Surabaya 2
Relationship Expertise
Course content
Regional Centre
'
460
Table 4 (Continued) Rating of professional and personal qualities of experts Category (1 = highest rating, 2 = second highest rating, etc. etc.)
Institution and group
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
He should be an expert in his field He should transfer his knowledgeand s k i l l Up to date with knowledge (applicable) Competent in planning and implementation He should be creative and disciplined
Expertise Instruction Expertise Organisation Relationship
VTUC -1
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Shouldbe an expert in his field Course content should relate to needs Shouldmotivate the counterpart/student Shouldwork to improve science Highresponsibilityin his task
Expertise Course content Instruction Course content Relationship
VTUC-2
structured group interviews, through individual interviews, and in terms of practice reported by experts and researchers in the literature and in reports to aid agencies.
Expertise 'Expertise' is a major consideration in determining personal and professional effectiveness. Expertise was rated as the most important characteristic in eleven of the thirteen structured group meetings in the two countries. Four kinds of expertise were identified in this study.
Technical Expertise in the Profession This kind of expertise is a blend of formal qualifications and professional experience, including developing country experience and, in the vocational areas, relevant industrial experience. Technical expertise -- or professionality has three key qualities: -
-
currency (e.g., 'being up-to-date') competence (e.g., 'subject expertise', 'academic excellence') -- comprehensiveness (e.g., 'high level of education', 'industrial experience', 'well prepared in problem solving', 'jack of all trades', 'broad knowledge of Asia') -
-
-
-
Cultural Knowledge and Understanding In both Indonesia and Thailand, respondents regularly identified 'understanding of the local culture' and 'understanding us' as important qualities. (Such understanding, they cautioned, must not lead the foreigner to try to behave like a Thai or Indonesian.)
461
Language Ability One route to greater cultural understanding is through language learning. However, this kind of expertise was seen as important in this study only by Indonesian respondents (although one Thai interviewee thought it might be helpful to learn a few key words and phrases of Thai). For Indonesians, language ability has two dimensions. The first is an appreciation of the expert's ability to be able to speak Bahasa Indonesia. This ability is seen as a means of enhancing communication and as an indication of cultural interest and understanding. The second dimension of language ability is the capacity to speak clear English. This dimension was raised only in Indonesia.
Expertise in Education Here, competence in an understanding of teaching, curriculum, the national education system, research methods and student learning characteristics are seen as important. Technical expertise is essential in establishing credibility. Interviews in both Thailand and Indonesia indicate that local professionals have concerns that some experts are less qualified and experienced than some of their own colleagues. Credibility suffers in these cases. Finally, it is not sufficient just to be expert in the diverse areas named above. It is vital to discharge this expertise through a willingness to work hard. According to several interviewees, this requires more than a solid 9-to-5 day. It can involve evening preparation and marking, putting effort into establishing and developing relationships, (both on-the-job and off-thejob through social activities), and the ability to seek out areas where additional professional contribution can be usefully made, particularly as contexts and needs change.
Relationships Studies of teaching effectiveness consistently draw attention to the importance of the quality of the relationship that is established between teacher and taught. Marsh (1987), for example, reports the following factors as comprising the quality he describes as 'individual rapport' for teachers in higher education: friendly, welcomed students seeking help/advice, interested in students, and accessible. Enthusiasm for teaching is another, but separate, factor reported by Marsh. The quality of relationships established is most important for the expert working in Southeast Asia because of the greater cultural importance attached to maintaining good relations with all people, rather than stressing the individuality that is characteristic of Australian culture. This is illustrated clearly in Table 2, which shows the very strong emphasis placed on relationships, especially by the Thais, in comparison to other.categories. There are certain acceptable modes of behaviour within a culture. These differ from one culture to another but are highly consistent within a culture. It is valuable to learn what these behaviours are. Noesjirwan (1978), for
462 example, demonstrated differences and consistencies in behaviour for Indonesians and Australians. Relevant examples for educational settings include: -- Relationships: Indonesians, more than Australians, prefer to have good
relations with everyone. Group norms: Indonesians believe that the individual should be subordinate to the group leader and that, in contrast to Australians, the community is more important than the individual. -- H e l p seeking: Indonesians express a greater likelihood of seeking help. -- Attitude to life: Indonesians, more than Australians, believe life should be calm and steady, dissent should be avoided, as should unnecessary haste and negative emotions. --
Analysis of the inventory of qualities resulting from the structured-group interviews shows that there are four primary components of Relationship. Each component reflects the issues identified in the previous discussion. These components are: Personal Qualities a n d Characteristics
These qualities include physical attributes such as good appearance and being in good health (an attribute mentioned in Thailand reflecting anxieties about the spread of AIDS), and personal qualities including having a 'good' personality, responsibility, politeness, patience, enthusiasm, tolerance, sincerity, versatility and flexibility. Mode of dress was mentioned during interviews with Indonesians as an important element of behaviour and of attitude towards Indonesian people: scanty, tourist-like clothing is considered an affront to Indonesian modesty. Attitude
Closely connected to the personal qualities of the expert is the matter of attitude -- to the people with whom they work, the work itself, and to the country generally. Respondents listed the following attitudes, among others, as having importance: goodwill, the acceptance of participants as they are, respect for people from developing countries, a concern for the human environment, not being paternalistic and being positive and optimistic. Relationships with others
Central, of course, is the way the expert relates to people with whom he or she comes into contact, including students, counterparts and other subjectexperts. Specific aspects of this characteristic include a willingness to help, and being friendly, attentive, and cooperative. Leadership
Leadership refers to a distinctive way in which the expert relates to others and has been identified here as a separate characteristic. Experts' leadership
463 has been a topic of study in its own right. Schwarz, quoted in van den Bor (1983:164) identified eleven dimensions of project leadership. Many of these elements are strikingly similar to the qualities described in this study. The elements of leadership Schwarz identified are: technical qualification, administrative ability, interpersonal relations, motivation, acceptance of constraints, stability, poise, 'backbone', security and political finesse. All interviewees stressed the priority of relationships and personal qualities in the work of experts. One experienced Australian teacher and aid administrator asserted that interpersonal relationships -- based on cultural sensitivity, personal flexibility and a genuine respect for local people -- has, in his mind, priority over formal qualifications and experience. Another drew attention to the dangers of acting paternalistically, to being patronising and dominating and to behaving as a 'father' figure, especially when there is a tendency by some local persons to indulge the expert in ways that foster just these kinds of behaviour. These behaviours create barriers which can impede learning and development. Quite the reverse is required of expatriate leaders: they must strive to develop confidence and independence in those they are teaching, assisting or supervising. Rather than building barriers and being distant, one senior Indonesian school principal argued that it was important for the expert to be 'close' to the people with whom she or he is working and to appreciate their achievements. A good way of achieving this 'closeness', according to both Indonesian and Australian interviewees, is to join in local social activities such as outings, dinners and parties. A Thai academic proposed that the expert should not be too 'serious' and should adopt the Thai character of 'laughter and smiles'. The practical importance of relationships in successful educational development projects is illustrated by Ely. In his analysis of the diffusion of educational technology in Indonesia he identifies four categories, or 'lessons', for project success. These are: attention to cultural affairs, personnel and training, organisation and management, and leadership. A distinguishing characteristic of each of these lessons for project success is that they are all people-oriented and focus in different ways on the relationships established between experts and local persons (Ely 1989).
Organisation Careful organisation, planning, and preparation are acknowledged hallmarks of good teaching and management. There are three major 'players' in organisational matters: the aid-provider, the expert and the host institution in the developing country. There are two related, but distinguishable, aspects of organisation: educational planning and preparation, and administrative planning and preparation. Table 5 lists components of organisation identified in experts' reports held by IDP -- the International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges. The list is not intended to be exhaus-
464 Table 5. Components of organisation, planning and preparation. Administrative preparation
Educational preparation
By Expert Establishing reliable communication with host Clarifyingroles and purposes
By Expert Timetabling
Prior site inspection
Content, approach, materials, and methods of instruction Prior discussion with participants about educational context and needs
Preparation for work in a different culture By Overseas Host Institution Photocopying/printing facilities Rooms and equipment Transportation Release of and support for staff to attend activity Location of course
By Overseas Host Institution Selection of appropriate staff: (a) as counterparts for experts (b) as participants
five. It is simply a reflection of important and distinctive organisational concerns that have been addressed by experts in the past. Experts identify establishing reliable communication and preliminary visits as important for both administrative, cultural and educational reasons. In recounting his visit to prepare for a teaching methods course in Indonesia, Hore notes that: "This was a very valuable visit for me not only as it enabled me to consider the emphases and content of the course most appropriate for Unhas, but because I acquired local knowledge and the realization of the need for my team to have some Bahasa Indonesia in order to understand the cultural nuances" (Hore 1982:1). It is clear, from experts' reports and from the group interviews, that an important aspect of preparatory work is the attention given by the host to matters related to participant selection, notification, support and release-time to attend the activity. The frequency with which experts' reports refer to the matter testifies to its importance. The organisational support and encouragement of senior staff appears to be critical. However, all the support and encouragement in the world will not overcome timetabling and course structure problems -- an issue identified in experts' reports and in interviews with experts. Timetabling flexibility, while maintaining adherence to a well-worked out course structure, was considered by one interviewee to be a very desirable strategy of adjustment to local needs and circumstances without sacrificing the direction of an activity altogether. As a summary guide to organisation, the following principles and recommendations variously suggested by Wallace and Wisher (1983) Andrews, Housego and Thomas (1986) and Edwards (1989) are presented.
465 The principles reflect the qualities identified by respondents and interviewees in the present study. -- Respect participants' knowledge and culture hnplement interactive methods Engage participants in programme design, development, implementation and follow-up Focus on the development and application of problem-solving strategies -
-
-
-
-
-
As Edwards asserts: "In all sectors of development, the adoption of problemsolving approaches is much more important than communicating particular packages of technical information. If people can analyse, design, implement and evaluate their work in a critical fashion, they stand a good chance of achieving their objectives" (Edwards 1989:119). There is evidence in responses to the group interviews that this need is recognised in Indonesia and in Thailand. Practical, problem- and skilloriented training and approaches are seen as important qualities of Expertise, Course content and Instruction. Each of the aspects of Organisation discussed above has been referred to by respondents. But as Table 2 indicates, Organisation is considered by them to be relatively less important than the other qualities. Yet without careful organisation none of the other factors can operate. Courses have failed because of a lack of attention to organisation by one or more of the aid-provider, the host institution or the expert. Instruction
Instruction is defined to include such matters as teacher presentation and explanation, class interaction and participation, learning, assessment and feedback. These matters refer to the processes of teaching and learning. An important feature of these processes is the extent to which they facilitate effective coinmunication. And it is the matter of communication that is of particular importance to the group-interview respondents. It is important in two ways. First, to be able to speak the language is seen as a means of better communication and of cultural understanding. It is also seen as an indicator of interest in the country. An ability to communicate in Indonesia -- or at least the motivation to learn the language -- was listed by all groups in Indonesia. (By way of contrast, being able to speak Thai was not listed by any Thai group.) Second, effective communication is seen as an integral part of the whole process of instruction. A key difficulty in instruction may be the expert's lack of skill in the local language and possibly even a lack of awareness of language difficulties created by pace, accent, and the use of metaphor and colloquialisms. To some extent, the latter is most easily addressed by slowing down and by using clear, simple standard English. The relevance of this skill is emphasised by its being listed as an important characteristic by four of the Indonesian groups.
466 Lack of skill in the language of the host country is a difficult problem, but, in theory at least, partly resolved by moving away from formal presentations toward interactive problem-based learning -- indicated as desirable by experts and respondents alike. Such a move has the additional benefit of reducing the 'risk' of creating and transferring packages of Western technology. Experts' reports reveal a variety of instructional approaches. Some indicate a reliance on the traditional lecture method, possibly reflecting a reported expectation by participants to be 'lectured', whereas others describe interactive approaches. A few describe approaches designed to address quite specific instructional concerns. For example, Hore describes contract learning as a means of establishing personal commitment and relevance of course work to local needs and practice. Hore describes contract learning as that " . . . where the participants, with assistance from the consultants, specified what they would do and actually signed a contract with the team agreeing that they would complete the requirements by a specified date. We reasoned that the question of 'relevance' could not be denied if this technique were successful" (Hore 1982:2). According to Hore, the approach was positively received: "The thing that the participants seemed to appreciate most was the time that had been allowed in the workshop to practise some of the skills and ideas that had been communicated. An important element of this was the Personal Project module (Hore 1982:2). (This module provided the opportunity for participants to complete something of interest to them which could be used in their teaching. Thus, desirable Course Content characteristics of applicability, practicality and relevance were achieved.) The Instructional process -- according to responses from the group interviews -- should have the following further characteristics: Motivation of students. Contract learning is one instructional approach to help foster motivation. Another, reported by an Australian interviewee, is to ensure that clients experience success on tasks that are important and relevant to them early in a consultancy: it being important to ensure that clients feel they are contributing to the attainment of consultancy objectives. Selection and use of up-to-date and appropriate methods and media Systematic and effective explanation -- Active, practical teaching methods Assessment, feedback and support to students that includes: pre-testing, the identification of students' background: their strengths and their weaknesses; monitoring of student progress; constructive criticism; and after-course consultation and follow-up. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Course Content
This refers to the subject-matter, or content taught in a course or similar
467 activity. To a large extent, what is taught is usually left to the professional judgement of individual experts or to course planning teams of experts and counterparts. This state of affairs may ignore a variety of critical issues such as those raised in the group interviews. These issues include the applicability of new knowledge, the benefit of that knowledge for the nation and the practicality of ideas and technologies. Newble and Cannon (1989) report a number of different criteria for selecting course content that are relevant to the present discussion. These criteria are:
Philosophical Criteria These criteria focus on theoretical, methodological and value positions. For example: -
-
-
-
Content should emphasise the practical rather than the theoretical. Content should provide participants with resources to critically assess the ethics of development issues, and the relevance, applicability and impact of new ideas.
Psychological Criteria These criteria relate to the application of psychological principles -- especially of learning theory -- to teaching: -- Content should be carefully integrated to avoid fragmentation and consequential loss of opportunities for participants to develop 'deep' approaches to learning. Content selection must provide opportunities to emphasize and to develop higher-level intellectual skills such as reasoning, problem-solving, and creativity. Content should relate to the development of attitudes and values as well as intellectual and practical skills. In particular, the expert's course planning should lead participants to greater levels of self-confidence and to the reduction of attitudes of dependency where they exist. -
-
-
-
Professional Criteria These criteria recognize that courses for the professions may have explicit legal and professional requirements: Content must provide the kinds of theoretical and practical experiences required for professional practice. Content should include attention to professional ethics. -- Content should take account of local standards and procedures of professional practice. -
-
-
-
Practical Criteria These criteria concern the feasibility of teaching something and may relate to resource considerations:
468 -- Content could be developed from local experience, case studies, materials and resources. -- Content may be derived from one or two major texts because of a lack of suitable alternative materials. -- Content could be influenced by the availability of a 'key' teaching resource: library materials, computer equipment, laboratories, people, the physical environment, etc.
Participants' Criteria These criteria relate to the characteristics of the participants on a course. The Participants' criterion is an important one. It was raised in several interviews. An issue here relates particularly to the level at which material is presented. 'Knowing the background' of the participants will help avoid embarrassment when the expert's expectations are placed at the wrong level, when the level of rigour is not appropriate, and when the pace of teaching leads to frustration or failure. Some experts, in the interviews, advocated timetabling flexibility, in addition to careful preparation and course design, as strategies to minimise the risks of teaching at the wrong level. Alatas has drawn attention to a special problem when Southeast Asians study abroad or when they participate in educational development activities. He uses the terms 'captive' and 'captor minds' to describe the problem: "A captive mind i s . . . a product of higher institutions of learning either at home or abroad, whose way of thinking.., is dominated by Western thought in an imitative and uncritical manner" (Alatas 1975:39). A captor mind is " . . . the Western scholar or his Asian disciple who imparts knowledge through books or lectures in a manner which does not promote consciousness of the fundamentals of scientific thinking and reasoning . . . it [knowledge] is not contextual, is not philosophical, is not relational, and is not intercultural" (Alatas 1975:44). Alatas proposes that the problem can be overcome by awareness of the potential problem, by learner assimilation in a selective and constructive manner, and by teachers drawing attention to the problems of uncritical imitation of knowledge. This process may involve the expert in drawing on his or her experience in developing countries to provide relevant examples, or the use of locally available case studies. We have already seen that previous professional experience in developing countries is one characteristic of Expertise considered important by respondents. Respondents also report that the material taught by experts should be practical, relevant, beneficial and applicable to local conditions and needs. If these criteria are adhered to, they may also act as effective antidotes to the problem described by Alatas.
Conclusion When they had completed their listing and review of qualities expected of
469 advisers, members of the groups smiled knowingly: "We have described the perfect person," they said. Indeed, a great number and variety of qualities had been identified. It is unlikely that any one person would have all of them. Even if he or she did, it would be no guarantee of successful teaching in development work. So much can depend on other complex factors, some of which may be beyond the reach of the expert. Hennis, quoted in van den Bor (1983:163), proposed the following factors of this kind: the social context of the developing country; the expert's spouse and family; the characteristics of the assigning organisation, and factors in the social context of the expert's own country. The qualities thought to be important for effective teaching have been assigned to five categories: Expertise, Relationships, Instruction, Organisation and Course Content. A problem with categorisation like this is that it is potentially sterile and static -- when in fact the work of the expert is rich and dynamic. A sense of this richness and dynamism comes from looking at the lists of qualities in a different way. First, we can see that there are certain fundamental qualities and qualifications that an expert is expected to possess. These are described under the headings of 'Expertise' and 'Relationships' -such qualities as technical expertise, cultural knowledge, personal qualities and attitudes reflect the richness of an individual's education and personality. To a large extent, however, these qualities describe a static dimension of the expert -- the givens -- or what the expert is as a person. Second, there is the dynamic dimension; this dimension, according to the respondents in this study, is about what the expert does. What the expert does is part of his or her working and social relationships, of the qualities of leadership, organisational skill, instructional processes, communication, and of the material taught. When we examine what is taught -- Course Content -- we see that it is dynamic in that it has direction and it has consequences. Indonesian respondents, particularly, pointed to this aspect of Course Content. It is directional and consequential in the sense that the material taught should 'be applicable to Indonesian settings', that it should 'relate to needs' and emphasise 'benefit for Indonesian conditions'. In other words, an outcome of what is taught is a sense of positive relevance to the development of the country. The expatriate expert who is effective as a teacher or consultant in Thailand and Indonesia should be in possession of a complex and wide range of professional and personal qualities and skills, according to respondents in this study. Professional behaviour, which is the most 'public' characteristic of the expert in the developing country, evolves from a core of fundamental personal and professional qualities that supports the expert's interaction with others. Hopefully, it is this interaction which leads to constructive solutions to problems, to meeting the needs of the people and the country, and to providing the benefits which foreign aid is meant to deliver. Understanding the perceived importance of professional and personal
470 qualities has a number of potential applications. First, the information can be helpful to project managers and to aid providers in the design of development projects and activities• For example, the data have direct applications in the management of foreign aid personnel. These applications include selection for adviser and project leadership positions, the placement and management of staff, and the professional development of personnel prior to overseas service and in the field. Second, a close study of the identified qualities can be an instructive guide to the expert charged with the responsibility for designing, implementing and evaluating teaching or training activities. The study has suggested broad similarities between Indonesia and Thailand but also some differences. One of these differences is the relative importance assigned to the quality of Relationships. Further work is suggested to validate these findings in the two countries studied and to explore these differences. To what extent the findings in the present study relate to other major recipients of Australian aid in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and the Philippines, remains unknown and is also worthy of study. Notes
1. Experts are defined as persons assigned to provide assistance in developing countries• The term includes all teachers, educational advisers, and educational administrators as well as managers, technicians, operational personnel and technical advisers• The term 'expert' (one many Westerners are uncomfortable with) is used throughout this paper• It is a term that needs to be used with considerable caution. As Adams (1979) points out: " . . . in Britain a doctor is a doctor; he'll be a medical expert if he goes to halve the birthrate in Bangladesh •.. what matters is the halo of impartial prestige his skills lend h i m . . . " (quoted in Edwards 1989:118). The reason for using the term in this paper is simply to maintain consistency with usage in the literature and by agencies such as AIDAB. 2. I am indebted to many people who freely gave their time to discuss the issues reported here, who helped with the organisation of groups and facilities in Thailand and in Indonesia, and who commented on drafts of this paper. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the help of Drg Mniyani Bachtiar, The University of Adelaide, for assistance with translation; Dr Nelwan (Unhas), Dr Cholik Mutohir (IKIP Surabaya), Dra Felicitas Djawa (SMTK Ujungpandang), Dra Siti Atikah (VTUC Jakarta), Dr S.O. Sri Widodo (University of Indonesia); and Dr Sunthorn Kohtbantau, Dr Chompan Kunjara Na Ayudhya and Dr Sumeth Deoisres (Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand), for their assistance with the groups. My colleagues, Mr. Eugene Hejka and Dr Gerry Mullins gave assistance with data analysis.
471
Appendix 1. Structured Group Interview Question (English and Indonesian Versions)
Advisory Centre for University Education The University of Adelaide South Australia Group Question (Thailand) When advisers or experts from overseas come to Thailand to teach, they have been selected because of their professional qualifies. There are many professional or personal qualities that an adviser can have to be an effective teacher in Thailand. What do you think these qualities are? Make a list below (in Thai or English).
Advisory Centre for University Education The University of Adelaide South Australia Pertanyaan Group Bila pembimbing-pembimbing atau ahli-ahli dari luar negeri datang ke Indonesia untuk mengajar, mereka terpilih karena karakteristikkarakteristik keahlian mereka. Sangat banyak karakteristik-karakteristik keahlian atua pribadi yang membuat seorang pembimbing menjadi pengajar yang efektif di Indonesia. Apakah karakteristik-karakteristik tersebut menurut pendapat anda? Buatlah daftar dibawah ini (dalam Bahasa Indonesia atau Inggris).
472 References Alatas, S.H. 1975. Education and the Captive Mind. In: E.H. Medlin, ed., Asian Seminar Proceedings, March, 1974. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide. Andrews, J.H.M., Housego, I.E. and Thomas, D.C. 1986. Effective Programs of InService Training in Developing Countries: A Study of Expert Opinion. The University of British Columbia, Canada (Mimeo). Australia's Overseas Aid Program 1990-91. (1988 Budget Related Paper No. 4), Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. Bosquet, J. 1976. Experts Under Fire. Prospects 6(4): 59-602. Cohen, A.M., Trent, J.W. and Rose, C. 1973. Evaluation of Teaching. In R.M. Travers, ed., Second Handbook of Research on Teaching (1041-1057). Chicago: Rand-McNally. Delbecq, A.L., Van de Ven, A.H. and Gnstafson, D.H. 1975. Group Techniques for Program Planning. Glenview, Illinois: Scott Foresman. Edwards, M. 1989. The Irrelevance of Development Studies. Third World Quarterly 11: 116-135. Ely, D.P. 1989. The Diffusion of Educational Technology in Indonesia: A MultiFaceted Approach. British Journal of Educational Technology 20(3): 183-190. Hore, T. 1982. AUIDP -- UNHAS Consultancy. Teaching Methodology, Report on Workshop, Sep-Oct 1982. Melbourne: Monash University. Macbean, A.I. and Balasubramanyan, V.N. 1978. Meeting the Third World Challenge. Second Edition. London: Macmillan. Marsh, H.W. 1987. Students' Evaluations of University Teaching: Research Findings, Methodological Issues, and Directions for Future Research. International Journal of Educational Research 11:253-388. Newble, D. and Cannon, R. 1989. A Handbook for Teachers in Universities and Colleges:A Guide to Improving Teaching Methods. London: Kogan Page. Noesjirwan, J. 1978. A Rule Based Analysis of Cultural Differences in Social Behaviour: Indonesia and Australia. International Journal of Psychology 13(4): 305316. van den Bor, W., ed. 1983. The Art of Beginning. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation (Pudoc). Verspoor, A.M. and Leno, J.L. 1986. Improving Teaching: A Key to Successful Educational Change. Lessons from World Bank Experience. Bali, Indonesia: Paper presented at the Annual IMTEC Seminar. Wallace, E. and Wisher, S. 1983. Conducting Management Training Overseas. Connecticut: Educational Systems and Designs Inc. (Mimeo).
