Main

Open University (OU) management qualifications have had a significant airing in the pages of this journal. Gibbons, as part of the Management Research Initiative listed the qualifications available through the OU Business School,1 and Radford chronicled his experiences studying the Managing Health Services course with the Business School and he discussed the course's relevance to those in the clinical arena.2 This paper stays with the OU, in fact it stays with the management theme and considers my experience as a student reading for the OU School of Education, MA in Education in the period 1994–96. It goes on to analyse how such qualifications can benefit not only university teachers, but all those involved in practitioner education.

It is quite sobering to reflect on the fact that very few teachers in any area of higher education have had any formal teaching training. However, experience allows us to settle into a comfortable routine. Does this mean that the quality of teaching improves? Perhaps, but as retired friend and colleague once commented, 'Experience is all very well, but remember, you can get very good at getting it wrong!' The whole concept of having one's teaching closely scrutinised sits very uneasily with most of us, who by and large 'picked it up as we went along', but with Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) now with us, this is or soon will be a fact of life.

I needed to do something about my own teaching; after all future general practitioners are on the receiving end of my questionable skills. I, like many of my peers, had participated in various short teaching courses, but I wanted something more substantial, something that would say 'Here is a teacher who is dentally qualified', rather than, 'Here is a dentist who is trying to teach'. Surely, our students have a right to demand this. Moreover, I wanted to strengthen my understanding of the management of education. I wanted to be secure in my handling of the students' learning experience. I know from personal communication that many vocational trainers have the management of their vocational dental practitioners' (VDPs) education high on their list of concerns.

I have always been uneasy about the often contrary needs of preparing students for examination success and an essentially practical life post-qualification, which will of course be general practice for the vast majority of our students. Academics are often criticised by general practitioners for not being in touch with real-world dentistry. It may be that some teachers are not able to appreciate the real world of general practice, but conversely, in my experience a number of general practitioners, and I include vocational trainers here, do not fully appreciate the difficulties involved in transforming an 18-year-old fresh out of school into a safe and professional graduate. Our priorities are necessarily different. The key to this dilemma has to be in how dental education is managed, and how links between dental schools and vocational practices are forged and developed.

The structure of the OU MA in Education

The MA is modular. On the successful completion of three, 60-point modules the degree is awarded. One particularly attractive feature of this arrangement and the one reason why I took this path, is that the student is able to select three modules which suit his or her own particular interests and professional goals. For me, the optional management components were particularly significant factors in my decision to choose the OU MA. Essentially two of the modules on offer feature the theory and practice of education management. If the student includes both modules in their period of study, then they are able to refer to their degree as an MA in Education (Management). I decided to include these two and complement them with the Research in Education module. However, there are many other modules which a GP trainer, for example, might find more appropriate.

It is usual to study one module per academic year, which runs from the beginning of February to the end of October. The MA therefore normally takes 3 years to complete. As all course work features aspects of the institution in which the student is employed, for me, the degree automatically assumed a strong dental identity.

Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA's) form the basis of the continuous assessment component of each module. For most modules this will account for 60% of the total mark. A final 3-hour examination usually accounts for the final 40%. The tutor is the student's primary and often only human face of the OU. Sending off your TMA's —to your tutor becomes a way of life — so does the uneasy feeling you get when you see the marked and University ratified work drop through the letter box, 2–3 weeks later. The management theory module has a Residential (Summer) School. These Schools are of course an OU institution and are extremely valuable and great fun, which is probably just as well because attendance where necessary is mandatory and as far as I am able to ascertain the only valid reasons for exemption are acute life threatening illness or residence in one of Her Majesty's secure institutions. At the start of the MA, I was concerned as to how relevant a higher degree aimed primarily at mainstream education would be to a clinical teacher in a dental school? I need not have worried. Management skills are essentially the same in all spheres of education.

I also feel that it should be mandatory for every teacher to undergo a 3-hour examination every 5 years

I had a final 3-hour examination with two of the three modules. I teach for a living; I mark finals scripts and many others. I am supposed to know about taking examinations. Yet I was ashamed of my own examination technique! My own students now suffer because of this, and if I had my own way, 'Read the question, and plan your answer', would be tattooed on the backs of every student's hands. I also feel that it should be mandatory for every teacher to undergo a 3-hour examination every 5 years. That way we will not forget what the students are going through! I have to admit that very few of my colleagues share my enthusiasm for this! Nevertheless, an ability to empathise with students is a critical skill that all teachers must develop.

My experiences with the MA

The Research in Education module was fascinating. For someone with a science based background, education research is a very different world, certainly where, as with our course, the emphasis was very much on qualitative research. The whole concept of developing the research question from the collected data and questioning the whole concept of objectivity will take some getting used to — for some at least.

Choosing the management modules obviously reflected my own particular interest in the management of education. Of course, prior to embarking on the MA, I felt, like many others, that management was all about common sense and as the course unfolded I was able to say to my self, 'well I do that anyway'. However, now I have a sound theoretical base on which to formalise that common sense. Moreover, there were many things that I ought to have been doing, which I was not — and I was blissfully unaware of it!

The concept of the reflective practitioner (Schön3) and the idea of constantly reflecting on one's own practice, and modifying practice in the light of that reflection, was a major theme running through the entire course. This concept is not new of course; it has its origins in Aristotle's concept of praxis — informed, committed action. Duignan argues that 'it is through reflection-on-action that leaders [and practitioners] build their theories-in-action to guide their new practice. Such theories are used not as prescriptions, but to provide alternative frames for re-interpreting concrete experiences'.4 It is through a process of reflective self-awareness of past practice that present practice can be improved. Duignan suggests that such reflection and reassessment is essential when managers have to respond to new, unique, often confusing and ambiguous problem situations. Tried and tested methods may well work, but new situations may require new and different methods of dealing with them. Unless managers are alert to such possibilities, their management efforts may not have the desired effect. Reflection on action should in fact be a universal practice; it is just as relevant to the general practitioner, who has staff and indeed patients to manage, as it is to me as a teacher. In fact I would suggest that the consequences of poor management are far greater and more immediate for those who have to function without the security of being able to blend into a large institution.

The course placed a great deal of emphasis on the role of leadership in management. Ultimately education is very little different from other spheres where management is concerned, and the role of people as that most precious of commodities was pressed home, time and time again. Morgan stresses the need to empower staff5 — to visualise them as a key — in fact the key resource. As he puts it, 'It boils down to one thing — people, people, people, people, people'.

Morgan further stresses the need for leaders to provide an overarching sense of vision and to communicate that vision in an actionable form.6 He continues, 'You push in the direction you're working... together, without saying. Here is my vision, which is one opinion and may be wrong. ...One of the imperatives is to involve people in the process so that 'we think its ours' rather than 'I think its mine''. In Morgan's interviews with successful executives, despite the fact that leadership styles vary and different leaders are effective in different situations, all converged on the critical idea of understanding leadership in terms of the development of shared values, shared direction and shared responsibility.

I mentioned that a critical management competency is empathy; that ability to see a problem or another's point of view through their eyes — to try and understand their concerns, fears and prejudices. As a teacher, I have to really put myself in the student's place, to see an issue or a problem as they do. Likewise a vocational trainer needs to see it through the eyes of the VDP. The view is very different —and it helps the development of a shared understanding. To take people with you, to get them to share your vision, to make it their vision, they must be treated fairly and they must feel valued. Saying thank you is a remarkably effective way of doing this. An apology to those subordinate to you (when appropriate) is considered by some as a sign of weakness and something to be avoided. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my experience, such an act is never interpreted, even by the most recalcitrant of students, in this way. However, not to apologise when an apology is appropriate breeds resentment and this is the most damaging of emotions. Morgan speaks of empowering leadership.5 Give someone responsibility, let them know that their contribution is valued — really valued, say thank you and well done when appropriate and they perform — they really perform. This holds true regardless of the nature and size of the organisation concerned.

Drucker's words on the issue of performance are really significant.7 He says that 'Performance is not hitting the bull's eye with every shot — that is a circus act that can be maintained only over a few minutes. Performance is rather the consistent ability to produce results over prolonged periods of time in a variety of circumstances. .... The better a person is the more mistakes he will make — for the more new things he will try'. 'Safe mediocrity' must be avoided. Drucker suggests that we be wary of the person who never makes mistakes or never fails in what he or she tries. Either they are a 'phoney' or they are staying with the safe, the tried and the trivial. The manager, teacher or trainer must encourage and accept failure and errors. This can be difficult for a vocational trainer managing a VDP's progress in general practice. It must also be remembered that someone who focuses on weaknesses instead of strengths, who is more interested in who is right rather than what is right, should never be appointed to a managerial position. When staff underperform, those in management positions must realise that the problem is theirs, the mistake is to have put someone in that position in the first place.

Integrity in management is the touchstone. Drucker maintains that co-workers and subordinates will forgive a great deal; incompetence, ignorance, insecurity or bad manners. But they will not forgive a lack of integrity. Nor will they forgive higher management for choosing such a person. It seems to me that Drucker's words are appropriate in all spheres where management is an issue. They are as relevant to practitioners as they are to me, particularly those practitioners who are involved or who wish to become involved in vocational training.

Conclusions

As I said earlier, I like to feel that I was already doing a lot of what I learned in the 3 years of the course, but being able to hang my practice on to a sound theoretical framework has really been invaluable. I am the better for it. I like to think my students are too — as are the staff who work with me.

I mentioned, the different priorities necessary in dental school and general practice. I feel that this is an area which shows how I have benefited from my management training. My research interests bring me into close contact with many of my practitioner colleagues and whereas I have always felt that I respected and supported them, my quest to reflect upon my own practice and a genuine desire to develop an empathy with my practice colleagues has resulted in a definite change in my approach to the teaching of students, certainly the more senior ones. The methods I use and standards I demand have not changed, but I never allow myself to forget that general dental practice is on the horizon for most of our students — and I respect and value this.

Does this qualification have any relevance for those in general practice who want to undertake a useful higher qualification, but are not actively involved in teaching? Yes it does. In fact, for anyone who has to work with other people, whether they are in senior or subordinate positions, it is relevant. For those who are thinking of or who already have become vocational trainers, I can think of nothing that I have considered that is more appropriate. This qualification can help develop a new confidence with management, and as I mentioned at the beginning, from my own communications with GP trainers, management and teaching methodologies are often a major area of concern.

I have really enjoyed the 3 years undertaking the MA. It was hard work; as well as the examinations, assignments and projects totalled 35,000 words. But I am sure that anyone really interested in education will find it as much fun as I did. Actually OU study is highly addictive and it rapidly becomes a way of life; Radford writing about his experiences says he can see how people are bitten by the adult education/OU bug.2 I have certainly been bitten and now I would really miss it. Be warned!