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AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHINGAND THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN UNIVERSITYTEACHERS AND STUDENTSSonja UlmerPublished online: 02 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Sonja Ulmer (1987) AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHING AND THERELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UNIVERSITY TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, Higher Education inEurope, 12:4, 43-48, DOI: 10.1080/0379772870120407

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Higher Education in Europe, Vol. XII, No. 4, 1987 43

AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHING AND THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN UNIVERSITY TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Sonja ULMER

As a principal task of higher education in the German Democratic Republic is to createthe conditions by which it will have a major impact upon development, a major aspect ofthese conditions refers to the relationship between university teachers and students. Thetotality of this relationship can be broken down into relationships of partnership, of authority,and of work. The third of these relationships, particularly collaboration in research projects,creates the best links between teachers and students and enables teachers to gain the fullestknowledge of their students and to have the most fruitful influence over them. The validityof this assertion has been corroborated by the results of the author's investigations of thestimulating and orientational effects of communicative and cooperative relations at CentralExhibitions of Achievements of Students and Young Scientists in the German DemocraticRepublic. In order to obtain the best pedagogical results through collaborative work, theteacher must understand and add to the student's motivations and be prepared to stimu-late the learning process through constant evaluation of both specific achievements and ofthe development of the student's personality resulting from work on the project. The latterevaluation criterion is in turn best measured by the assessment of results achieved againstobjectives and by an analysis of the environment of the study process. As individual teacherscan only know students in specific courses, the position of "seminar group advisor" has beencreated in the GDR to be filled by young academics who are assigned to groups of studentsfrom their matriculation to their graduation.

In conformity with the proposals made by Unesco relative to the analysisof teaching which takes place in higher education institutions, as laid downin 23 C/5 Approved Programme and Budget for 1986—1987, H.A — MajorProgramme IV, Programme IV.3 "Policies and Methods for the Training ofEducational Personnel" —in support of innovations in higher education,increasing numbers of university teachers are using the perceptions and re-commendations of university pedagogics to improve their teaching.

One of the main tasks of universities and colleges in the developed socia-list society of the German Democratic Republic is to create the necessaryconditions whereby education will have a major impact upon development1.Such an impact can only occur if the effectiveness of higher education is in-creased. It follows that increased effectiveness requires new conceptions likethose which are increasingly characteristic of the education of engineers andeconomists. Indeed all possibilities for innovation in the training of teachersand in the imparting of study techniques should be exhausted. One aspectof this total process is the relationship between university teachers andstudents.

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44 Relationship between University Teachers and Students

Theoretical Aspects

On one hand, the relationship between university teachers and studentscan be viewed as the reflection of different functions of the teacher: his teach-ing function, his advisory function, and his preceptorial function 2. On theother hand, the totality of the relationships between teachers and students,can be characterized by using another methodological approach, one whichcan be determined by three kinds of relationships at three different func-tional levels of higher education:

— a relationship of partnership,— a relationship of authority, and— a relationship of work (the academic process considered as a special

kind of working process).The partnership existing betAveen university teachers and students is a

function of the political character of their contact. They are partners whoenjoy the same political rights. They are adults who are responsible for theiractions. Teachers and students are partners in higher education. Althougheach individual, be he a student or a teacher, is entitled to his own opin-ions in political discussions, students and teachers nevertheless occupy dif-ferent social positions.

The authority relationship can be explained by the basic fact of guidancein higher education. Yet students must be able to appreciate their teachersin order to co-operate effectively with them. The authority of a universityteacher is, of course, based on his teaching function. The sooner this aspectof his authority is completed by strength of personality, the better will be theresults for the students of the training imparted s . The dominant role of theteacher must be directed at the development of initiative, of independence,and of responsibility in students. In fact, what we have here is a dialecticalcontradiction. Its resolution is a difficult problem, particularly for youngacademics. A key to its success is for the teacher to be for his students amodel of professional, moral, and aesthetic behaviour.

The work relationship between university teachers and students arisesfrom the processes of academic work, particularly research. It is characteristicof these processes that the teacher or tutor will normally have a vasterknowledge of the subject question and more experience in scientific workthan the student. At the same time, however, the teacher will not know theoutcome of the scientific task at hand. As in some cases the common tasksundertaken by teachers and students will have originated in the scientificand technological plans of given factories, a new kind of contact betweenstudent and teacher will evolve, one like that which exists in workingcollectives.

Although each of these relationships is limited, they interact in a com-plex manner. Depending on the actual activity of a given student, one oranother of the three types of relations will dominate, but never to the ex-clusion of the other two.

In addition, the relationship between teachers and students is influencedby the quality of the relationship of communication and of co-operation whichthey are able to establish. The process involved here depends primarily onthe Marxist-Leninist view of life which both parties should hold and theirunderstanding of Marxist-Leninist educational aims in particular so as to

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S. Ulmer 45

"better form well-rounded socialist graduates who are noted for their ad-vanced creative abilities 4.

Since 1979, we have been investigating the stimulating and orientationaleffects of communicative and co-operative relations at Central Exhibitions ofAchievements of Students and Young Scientists in the GDR. The studentparticipants stressed that the following traits of their teachers had had posi-tive influences on their achievements:

— efforts made to have good relations with their students;— ability to give accurate and clear instructions relative to academic

"work, including the selection of themes for research tasks and projects;— good scientific attitudes ;— ability to motivate by means of explanations given in scientific

contexts;— successful forms of close personal contact through consultations, clubs,

•discussions;— proper evaluation of student achievements.It is important that the teacher give each student a serious chance to

undertake scientific work, this being the best way to develop his interestin such work.

For students and teachers to develop the best possible relationships withone another their common work must be increasingly concentrated. It mustnot be extended by such means as more lectures and seminars.

The conception of close working relations between teachers and studentsis based in turn on a conception of the teaching and learning process as acommon teacher-student activity involving teaching/learning operations inscientific/professional tasks as well as in social relations. Such a view shouldform the basis of the particular teaching style of each university teacher. Inother words, the teacher has to know a great deal about the aspirationsand the achieved results of students. He must increase his analytical activityas he teaches in such a way that it is viewed in a context which is widerthan simply one of mere evaluation.

We use the term analysis/analytical activity in its philosophical sense,that is, as designating the discovery of the causes of effects. Doing sohelps us as a first step to underline or to value the achievement of thestudent. To grasp this achievement is the next step which the analysismust take.

Generally speaking, achievement is stimulated by fundamental groupsof motivations which include:

— psychological motivations (individual motivations of a given student);— pedagogical motivations (motivations occurring through the processes

or conditions of given pedagogical situations);— other motivations (social, cultural, family).These three kinds of motivations being linked to the actual learning

process, the teacher must consider all of them, and most importantly, mustconcentrate on the connections between psychological and pedagogical motiva-tions. Each analysis should determine the link between result and condition,a link which can have an effect only if the students willingly support theanalytical process. If they do, they then become partners of the teacher and,ultimately, good partners in analytical activities.

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46 Relationship between University Teachers and Students

A final aspect of the learning process should be mentioned: the analyticalactivities of teacher and student in higher education are always linked to theprocess of evaluation. In our opinion, there can he no analysis without eval-uation of the results.

Practical Aspects

In the universities of the German Democratic Republic, the practice isto evaluate students in two principal ways:

— by the grading of achievement, and— by assessing the development of personality.The assignment of grades measures levels of knowledge, skills, capacity,

and perhaps habits. Levels of knowledge are classified in terms of grades.If the teacher analyzes grades as the expression of results, he may only geta view of the specific achievements in the exercises being specifically graded.Thus he needs to measure other factors to get a fuller picture. Such factorsinclude:

— the comparison of objectives with achievements (to what extent wasthe objective realized; which parts were not realized, etc.);

— the comparison of the presuppositions of students with the resultswhich they achieved;

— the analysis of the material and organizational conditions of the studyprocesses and the ways in which students make use of them.

It is up to the teacher to prepare this kind of analysis and to determinethe place and the time for undertaking it. There are other types of analysiswhich have a more operational character. While a teacher is lecturing, hecan determine the moment for an analytical situation. Such a moment mayvery often appear during seminar discussions when the teacher evaluates achieve-ment verbally, or sometimes with grades. Analysis of the reactions of stu-dents gives teachers some information about the motives for given achieve-ments. Teachers are well advised to use the last ten minutes of each seminarfor such evaluational discussions. Students will become used to this methodand will openly answer questions relative to the causes of their achievements.Then teachers and students will reach a common conclusion. This methodis very supportive of the relationship between teachers and students. It canbe used by teachers who are offering seminars, supervising the exercises orthe research of students, or guiding practical work in laboratories. Teachersare often present at final examinations so that they can adjust their lecturesaccordingly. Analytical aspects of this sort may also be incorporated intolectures, e.g. comparisons of the aims with the results of given lessons andanalyses of the influence which the conditions under which given lectures aregiven have on their effectiveness.

At first sight, these analytical methods may seem to be little more thanadded work for the teacher. If, however, they are viewed as the start ofwhat will become fruitful co-operation with students, they will be perceivedas very useful work well worth the trouble. The analytical activity requiredof teachers who are preparing assessments of students is more complex thanthat required for the assessment of grades for simple achievement. This secondtype of assessment touches upon such personal characteristics of students as

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S. Ulmer • . 47

their developed world-views, their social attitudes, their professional work--ethos, their levels of qualification, their abilities to learn and to work crea-tively, their abilities to co-operate and to interact in collectives, and theirdeveloped moral and aesthetic positions. .

The greatest difficulty in assessing these characteristics comes from thefact that they must be observed through the activities and the behaviourof the students themselves. They cannot be measured the way factual knowl-edge is. The second difficulty comes from the fact that students must beobserved and analyzed over a long period of time in order to accumulateinformation about what are in fact qualities of personality. The third diffi-culty arises from the fact that a given teacher normally has contact withgiven students in only one subject; he cannot therefore evaluate them inother subjects and activities.

For these reasons the position of seminar group adviser (Seminargruppen-berater) was introduced in the German Democratic Republic. Seminar groupadvisers are young academics who co-operate with given groups of students,normally over two-year periods, sometimes even longer. As they themselveshave only recently completed their studies, they are well placed to advisestudents. One of their principal tasks is to prepare assessment of the person-alities of students.

During their periods of study, students are assessed three times in thisrespect. The first assessment takes place after the first year of study. Thenext one takes place when the student is looking for employment (often inhis third or fourth years of study). The last assessment takes place when hehas finished his studies. The first assessment is only addressed to the student, itsspecific function being to contribute to his self-education. The final assess-ment is intended to help him find a job for which he is particularly well suited.

The seminar group adviser, the person responsible for the preparationof these assessments, is the only person with a global view of a given groupof students involved in a particular course of study. To undertake his analysesof individual students, he receives information once or twice a year from thevarious lecturers assigned to his group. He also consults with the leadershipof the youth organization, for it always has a great deal of information inall important areas of study about the activities of students.

In 1985, a special set of methodical instructions was developed to be givento seminar group advisers in the preparation of assessments. The advisersappreciated the help which they in fact expected to receive as part of thenormal offerings in university pedagogics.

The capacity of analysis required for the preparation of such assessmentscan only be established if personal contacts between advisers and adviseeshave been established. Such contact should include helpful criticism for bothpartners. To create such a productive climate is one of the objectives of theanalytical activities of advisers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. HONECKER, E. Bericht des Zentralkomitees der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutsch-lands an den XI. Parteitag der SED. Berlin, Dietz Verlag, 1986, p. 59.

2. KNÖCHEL, W.; ROGER, G. Einführung in die Hochschulpädagogik, Vol. 2. Berlin,Deutscher Verlag der Wisseschaften, 1986, p. 22.

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48 Relationship between University Teachers and Students

3. KNÖCHEL, K. Zur Autorität in der kommunistischen Erziehung an der Hochschule.In: Die Verantwortung des Hochschullehrers für die kommunistische Erziehung der Stu-denten. Rostock, Wilhelm Pieck Universität, 1979, p. 55.

4. BESCHLUSS des Politbüros des Zentralkomitees der Sozialistischen EinheitsparteiDeutschlands vom 18.3.1980: Aufgaben der Universitäten und Hochschulen in derentwickelten sozialistischen Gesellschaft. In: Protokoll der V. Hochschulkonferenz,Anhang, 1980, p. 361 ff.

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