Barrio Villa Estrella

To build and keep up a competent MET teaching sta-f-f takes both

time and painstaking e-f-forts. For the /ears to come, great

e-f-forts should be made on structure r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n o-f China's MET teaching -faculties.

A. Optimize the Col l ec ti ve Structure

As pinpointed in Chapter 8 - I I - 5 , the shortage o-f the

operat I onal/manager I al t/pe and combined t/pe o-f maritime

l ect ur er has been undermining to a c ert ain extent the -final MET

r e su l t despite the dedicated commitment o-f the whole MET

teaching sta-f-f.

To put t hi s imbalance r i g h t , the -following measures ma/ be taken;

1. To a t t r a c t more exper;enced senior ship o-f-ficers and i ndustr / experise to the MET -fields.

Here, the salary is one of the most important f actors in the a t t r a c t i o n of maritime le c tur e rs besides the wish to teach and to stay ashore. Other fac to rs such as the reputation of an MET i n s t i t u t i o n , working conditions and s chl ol ast ic or career development promises, et c. are also important. I f the post s a l a r / of a senior l ect ur er can be raised as high as that of senior o f f i c e r s through s ta tu tor y or i n st i t ui o n rules supported b/ other pr ac ti cal and academic advantages, more ship o f f i c e r s and industry experts w i l l be possibly a t t r a c t e d .

The advantage of acquiring the combined q u a l i f i c a t i o n should also be represented in salary.

2. To create more oppor tui ti es for MET l ec tur ers to work on board ships or in t h e ma ri t im e industry for a longer period

to get them acquinted and reacquinted with ships, equipment

and operation procedures, the shipboard/industry r e a l i t y and problems. I t would be more bene fi ci al for both sides i f th lect urer goes with a p a r t i c u l a r task in mind i . e . research,

investigation or consultancy.

This approach is comparatively more applicable where i t has

the f u l l support of the shipping industry. In fact this

support Is e s s e n t i a l .

3. To invi t e more par t- time or v i s i t i n g lectures from the

industry both at home and abroad. Careful selection and

necessary remuneration should be duly made.

4. To encourage exchange of expertise and professional

co-operation among departments, i n s t i t u t i o n s and between academies and research i n s t i t u t i o n s or industries (both aboard and ashore).

B. Encouragement of Professional Development

The changes in the industry and the r e s u l t i n g demand for advanced t r a i n i n g r eqi re maritime l ect ur ers to keep abreast of developments and to give continuous at t en ti on to updating.

Professional development of individual l ec tur ers was previously l e f t to individual desires and a c t i v i t i e s . Now more professional developments are i n i t i a t e d by the i n s t i t u t i o n s though not well organized as of yet.

I t IS necessary to have an overall plan which includes

monitoring maritime developments and compares r e s u l t i n g t r a i n in g requIrements with expertise a vai l abl e in the teaching s t a f f . This w i l l i l l u s t r a t e the need for updating. Coodination with the individual l e c t u r e r s ' i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of the developments and new t r a i ni n g requirements in t h e ir f i e l d of expertise w i l l provide the pr er equisit e to an optimal professional development for both the individual and the c o l l e c t i v e .

The following methods of updating can be used simu1 taniously to

get the best out o-f each. Sabbatical leave should actualized and u t i l i z e d towards s i m i l i a r ends.

- Sel-f-stud I es

~ Shipboard and/or maritime i n dus t r/ /a dm in is t ra ti on experience - specialized updating programs

- more exposure to the world 1. Sel -f-studies

The motivation o-f the individual has to remain the main

dr iving -force behind updating a c t i v i t i e s . Appropriate

incentives and encouragement should be given to thi s

individual approach. I t would be desirable to render due

guidance, concern, task or project co-ordination as well as

the -final evaluation and corresponding awards by the working unit and i n s t i t u t i o n concerned.

Since 1980, a l l college l ec tur ers are required to obtain the

minimum equivalent of Masters degrees. Young probationary

lect ur ers therefore are single-mindedly pursuing these

r equi si te s since these programs have the toughest academic

entrance examination-averagely only one out of ten can be

enroll ed. The Master degree programs are mostly very

t h e o r e t i c a l l y oriented that do not match the MET teaching requirements very w e l l .

A bet ter solution l i e s in a more r ati ona l arrangement, s pe c i al l y designed for the young l e c t ur e rs , who represent the

future of a country's MET. Instead of r i g i d academic

procedure for get ti ng Masters degree, a c r ed i t system and

project plus thesis approach can be adopted. Usually only a

few graduates w i l l be selected out of the hundreds. They should be e n t i t l e d to cert ain examination exceptions and be n a t u r a l l y accepted as external or on-the-job degree-learners. (Just t h i s simple arrangement w i l l a t t r a c t more w i l l i n g MET l e c t u r e r s . ) The study period and method can be more f l e x i b l e .

For c ert ain compulsory subjects, they can take the courses

a vai lable in and out of the i n s t i t u t i o n u n t i l they get the required c r e d i t . Meanwhile, they may pursue c ert ain research or investigation projects r e la t ed to t h e i r branches under the guidance of an appointed t uitor/mentor u n t i l they complish and pass the defense of t h ei r theses. Pedagogical tr ai ni ng

and practice should also be counted in c r e d i t s . The

advantages of t hi s approach are obvious; - more a t t r a c t i v e

- more f l e x i b l e and adaptable schedules

- b e t t e r u t i l i z a t i o n of the avai bl e spare time f o r each Indi V I dual

- closer link between the studies/research and teaching/ professional r e a l i t y

- r elaxi ng the shortage of teachers

- contributory to i n i t i a t i n g young l ec tur ers and guiding them along

2. ShIpboard/industry experience

(Please r e f e r to I I - 2 of thi s chapter) 3. Specialized updating programs

There are more than 2000 MET l ec tur ers and teaching

assistants working in the MET i n s t i t u t i o n s in China. This

i l l u s t r a t e s a v e r / pr act ical and constant need -for organization o-f regular updating programs and s e t ti n g up o-f a MET lecturers"' t r a i n i n g i n s t i t u t e wi thin the domain o-f the two maritime u n i v e r s i t i e s , Dalian and Shanghai academy, where postgraduate courses are a l r e a d / a vai lable in t h e ir postgraduate i n s t i t u t e .

The programs can be incorporated into the e xi st ing

postgraduates course modules, making - f u l l -t im e , part-time or

spare-time studies possible and be combined with -field

studies. This is a v e r / cost-e-f-fect i ve approach and o n l / more e-f-fective admini strative work is required.

4. More exposure to the world

International-mindedness and more academic exchange/

experience at an int ernat ional level are v e r / important -for both the individual and c o l l e c t i v e q u a l i t y o-f the MET teaching -faculty. "To invi t e in and to go out" or exchange program should become constant a c t i v i t i e s to expose MET sta-f-f to the int er nat ional evironment.

1. To invi te in

a) more -foreign experts/1 ecturers should be invi ted in to conduct seminars, lectures or to impart experience b) to organize more internat ional con-ferences in China,

es pe ci al ly IMLA con-ferences and i t s workshops.

c) the Wor1d Mar 11ime Universi ty Dalian Branch and other

t r ai n i n g courses -for oversea students should be explored and run to the -full to a t t r a c t more oversea trainees and t r a i n i n g pr oj ec ts .

d) invest more on in-formation media such as books, p u b l i ­ cations and audio-visual education m a t e r i a l s , etc. 2. To go out/sabbatI cals

a) to work on board ocean-going vessels

b) to work as sta-f-f members or v i s i t i n g scholars in shipping i n s t i t u t i o n s abroad

c) to p a r t i c i p a t e in int ernat ional con-ferences, seminars or other meetings

d) to send, through a l l possible means and channels, more

l ec tur ers abroad -for longer terms and higher degree

study/research, e spe ci a ll y to the higher MET i n s t i t u t i o n s such as the World Maritime U n iv e rs it y. There the most comprehensive, specialized and sel-f-contai ned two-year Msc Degree t r a i n i n g program -for maritime le ct ur er s (Maritime Education and Tra i n i ng-MET) is o-f-fered in addition to

other programs -for maritime a-f-fairs such as Maritime