‘DTMT’ and why these 4 letters give me the jitters!
DTMT??? What’s this mysterious word all about? D-T-M-T , the word which sounds a lot robotic is the short form given to one of our marketing course subject in college-’Distribution Management’. So what’s so scary about a subject!!! The subject is not scary per say but the faculty is. The Prof whom we all very ‘lovingly’ call ‘Nutty’ is an absolute no nonsense guy. He had the reputation of being the harshest faculty around. Well, believe it or not, this is one subject which has made a vast majority of my batch mates go sleepless for nights together. Even those rumbustious souls who do not even give a damn for marks and good name, slog it out the whole night before each submission. The submission/assignment involves reading & analyzing huge cases with plethora of numbers and tables. The amount of number crunching in these cases used to drive people crazy. Me too. Sigh!
This leaves me to wonder if the use of coercive techniques at the post graduation level is fine or not? Is this the right way to teach? I would like to compare the techniques employed by the teacher in the novel ‘ To sir with love’ and the technique used by Military sergeants to ensure discipline. I believe that the use of coercive power is the last thing that anybody should do. Instead of the students ‘having’ to do an assignment or follow a rule, they should be ‘wanting’ to do it. And I believe that’s where the success or the actual power or the teaching prowess of the teacher lies.
It is better to be liked than being hated. But it is best to be respected!
Agreed and well said!