University or high school - the professor's perspective

If students find the main difference between university and high school is that they could enjoy more freedom and choice to learn in the university, what about the professors? How do professors view the difference between university and high school?

I could only speak for myself, as a former academic. I think professors in general will find universities giving more "privileges" to their teachers than high schools would give to theirs:

1. Universities provide more freedom and choice not only to the students but also to the professors. Examples? I have seen professors who will only teach courses that are their expertise, while most high school teachers do not enjoy this luxury of refusing to teach subjects they are not familiar with (such as Liberal Studies). I have also seen professors who don't come to work everyday (presumably they work from home). High school teachers must come to work in the school as long as it is not a school holiday.

2. Universities provide an environment for both disseminating knowledge through teaching as well as creating new knowledge through conducting research, while high school teachers focus on teaching. Therefore a professor who is not making use of this opportunity to do research and publish is not making the best of his/her job.

3. Universities provide more freedom and opportunities for her staff and students to voice out their social concerns. It is a shame for a university, having received so much resources from the public, to shy away from being 社會良心, i.e. if the majority of her members (staff and students) are indifferent, unconcerned and silent about social problems and injustice.

Therefore, in my opinion, university professors are obliged to shoulder their appropriate share of social responsibilities in view of the more abundant public resources made available to them. In addition, if they enjoy the full benefits and privileges of a university teacher, how could they treat their students like high school kids?

University or high school?

A university is an institution of higher education. The use of the word "higher" differentiates a university from a "high" school. No one would argue the purpose of undergraduate education should be different from that of high school education. The age difference between university and high school students means their needs are different because they are at different stages of their personal growth and development. A university that fails to excite the students at the end of their freshmen year by impressing upon them the difference should realize something must have gone wrong with her policies and curriculum.

So what makes a university different from a high school?

I would try to examine it from two perspectives, the student's and the professor's. Recollection of my own experience as a young freshman was the freedom and choice available in the university campus. I was thrilled to become a university student as I was finally released from the numerous rules governing (or restricting) the behaviour of high school students. Please don't get me wrong here, I am not saying those rules in high schools are useless and should be abandoned. On the contrary they are very useful guidelines for shaping the character of teenagers in high schools and helping them to develop into disciplined and responsible young adults who understand their own rights as well as how to respect the rights of others.

By the time a nineteen year old student arrives at the university campus, he/she should be regarded as a young adult and treated with trust and respect as such. The freedom and choice available in the university provide a different path, appropriate for their age and maturity, to learn about life and realities. Everyone has to make decisions and choices from time to time. Often the older you are, the tougher the choices. A university student needs to learn not only making the right choice, but also accepting the consequences of making a wrong choice.

The university provides the most suitable environment for students to experience real life before they are thrown into the lions den when they graduate and enter into the society. It is the first time they leave home to become more independent of the influence of their parents and teachers. If an eagle knows how to let go and allows its child to learn flying on its own, why can't we? Instead of setting up all sorts of restricting rules (as in high schools) to regulate student behaviour, most universities prefer to give students a code of conduct, leaving plenty of room and freedom for the students to explore, choose and learn. A code of conduct is sufficient to inform students of the standards expected, without spelling out in details the do's and don'ts.

When I was an undergraduate student I fully enjoyed that freedom. Sometimes I made wrong decisions. I learnt a lesson each time I made a mistake, and emerged a more prudent man next time.

A professor's job in teaching and research

To a 27 years old young man in the early 1970's, a tenure-track academic appointment in the University was an attractive start for a professional career and a guaranteed source of decent income to raise a family. After attending an interview smoothly at the Vice-Chancellor's office, I felt pretty confident in securing the job as I believed my services would be needed in the University's ongoing research projects in which I had been heavily involved.

"Teaching and research" were stipulated to be the main duties of my job, which I found easy and pleasurable. I was required to lecture for only 3 - 4 hours per week. The associated laboratory, design office and field work classes were well taken care of by teaching assistants and postgraduate students. Therefore most of my time were spent on research. Research funding was not abundant, but adequate. At 29 I was awarded an Association of Commonwealth Universities Fellowship to enable me to do one year full-time teaching and research at the University of Nottingham to experience the cultural difference between HK and UK students. Upon returning to Hong Kong I was given plenty of opportunities for professional training and development (thanks to my former PhD supervisor, mentor and boss) in parallel with my teaching and research. It enabled me to obtain the practical experience required to supplement my teaching and support my research, and to establish myself as a fully qualified professional engineer. The first of our three babies arrived and life was busy and happy. I could have no complaints other than having to go out and do my research work when there was a typhoon.

In the early years of my academic career I was hardly ten years older than my students. They needed little coaching because most of them entered university with 3 or 4 A's in their A-Level exams. At present many of them are holding senior positions either in the government or in the engineering profession. Recently when they celebrated the 25th or 30th anniversary of their graduation and honoured me as one of their old teachers, I could still recall their young faces in the old days but could not help wondering what contributions I had really made in the making of these high achievers.

The 1970's was an era of active university student movements in Hong Kong, in response to and in resonance with the human rights and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the West and the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China. The "Democratic Walls" on campus were constantly covered with posters, slogans, and articles of heated debates on social, economic and political issues between Christians, atheists, Marxists..... Athough not all students participated in the social concern movements, social conscience could be sensed in the university campus.

What about the professors? Certainly some were as active as the students and even played mentoring roles. As for me, I belonged to the majority who were quite indifferent. I was more interested in diligently pursuing my own academic career in teaching and research. The senior academic colleagues had established examples for me. Just follow their paths and hope that one day my hard work would be rewarded with promotions and salary increments. Besides, I spent a lot of my time outside working in church, where politics and social concern issues were hardly mentioned from the pulpit