The Faculty Development Programme (FDP) 2019 began at IIM Indore on April 22, 2019 with a registration of 24 participants from across the nation. The inauguration took place on Monday, in the presence of Professor Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore along with Professor Subin Sudhir, Programme Coordinator & Faculty, IIM Indore.
Mr. Vijay Dadlani, Officer, FDP and Hostel and Students Affairs welcomed the participants. This was followed by the welcome speech by Professor Sudhir. He also briefed the participants about the course curriculum and the schedule of the programme. ‘The programme this year focuses on Case Writing and Teaching, Research Methodology—quantitative and qualitative and Research Skill Development, along with various expert talks scheduled during the 33 days programme’, he said.
Professor Himanshu Rai then addressed the gathering. Speaking of becoming a teacher, Professor Rai noted that unlike early days when people focused on becoming just a doctor or an engineer, these days people who’re passionate about teaching and aim at bringing a change in the world choose their career as teaching. Teaching is a fervent job and requires dedication, he said; and then discussed about the two dominant fears any person in academics line suffers from. ‘One is the fear of failure and another, the fear of success. You may fail or not be able to present one of your lectures in a proper manner, but that’s not fatal. The world doesn’t end here. Make sure that your next lecture is always better than the previous one’, he said. Discussing about the ‘Fear of Success’, Professor Rai noted that the pressure of always performing the best and remaining a top performer is too stressful. ‘Some people suffer from fear of success—the tension of how if once they’ve performed the best and received appreciation, the next time too they will ‘HAVE’ to be the best. Do not take the stress. There’s no such thing as perfection. One can’t be a perfectionist in everything. One should always aim for perfection and keep enhancing the skills’, he said.
He advised the participants to avoid the envy from colleagues and friends, and rejoice the success of the people around—for that brings positivity and makes us a positive person.
Discussing the three levels of identity, Professor Rai noted that being in academia, one should always know what self is, know what their participants need to know and know what they’re supposed to be taught. ‘Always be technically sound at the subject you’re teaching. Also, always aim at learning from everything and everyone around you—for the more you know, the more you realise how ignorant you were’, he said.
This was followed by a vote of thanks by Professor Sudhir. The event concluded with a high tea and networking of all the participants with each other and faculty members who would be interacting with them during the programme.