SHOULD YOU REWARD MORE THOSE TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATE MORE? A STUDY IN THE CONTEXT OF IN-SERVICE TOURISM TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS

Abilities to participate and communicate in different social settings is considered to be very important qualities for tourism graduates. Tourism educators are supposed to inculcate these qualities in the students and one the finest means of training. Yet, educators, especially those who belong to the ‘old school’ find it difficult to forego the teacher-dominant one-way lecture method. Thus, ‘student-centered learning’ and ‘teacher-as-facilitator’ are some of the vital-most values that are aimed to be imparted through training programs for in-service academic staff in tourism. Resource persons who handle tourism teacher training program sessions believe that these objectives could best be achieved by rewarding with higher grades those participants who interact more during the sessions. The basic assumption behind this is that encouraging teacher-participants who interact more shall instill in them the spirit of the aforesaid values, which they shall later enact in their professional lives as tourism teachers. The present study conducted in India critically examines this assumption and establishes that rewarding teacher-participants for their interaction might in fact defeat the very same purpose for which the scheme was primarily introduced. The astonishing finding is that those teacher-participants who participate more during the sessions of the in-service training programs constitute the most ‘dictatorial’ ones in their regular teaching roles along with their least participating colleagues. Those who participated moderately were noted to be the best tourism educators in terms of their facilitating student participation and encouraging student centered learning.