True teacher is a learner all his life

The second memorial lecture in honour of Prof. Nandasena Ratnapala was delivered at the BMICH on August 10. The speaker was Jaffna University Vice Chancellor, Professor Nagalingam Shanmugalingam. The following article is based on that.

It was an emotional moment when Hasala and Aseni Ariyaratna, the two grandchildren and Prof. Nagalingam Shanmugalingam, garlanded Professor’s Portrait at the outset.The theme of the oration was “Living in Research with Prof Nandesena Ratnapala”. Prof. Shanmugalingam paying tribute to Prof. N. Ratnapala mentioned that he was a great scholar. He was especially a people’s man; meeting, observering discussing and living with people was the highest feature in his life.

Prof. Ratnapala was linked to the University and undergraduate study and sought to engage University with the community. Prof. Shanmugalingam referring to the role of higher education in development said university was an “open stage” where students could find ways and means to experiment their ideas. Therefore universities should embody norms of social tactics such as open debate and argumentative reasoning. It could serve the purpose of making use of its autonomy, dignity and self-reliance of its individual members.

It should also reject its discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religious belief or social class.

“The best higher education is a model and source of measure for creativity and modern civil society. This is an ideal not often realized”.

Universities therefore should promote skills and attitudes to citizens through various university experience.

At present universities are involved in awarding degrees, conducting research for degrees for monetary gains, as work, as politics of knowledge and for human and social development.

Coming to the key ingredient of research and research in sociology in particular, one has to first understand the importance of sociology as a science which promotes new knowledge for human and social development.

The position of sociology is the natural world and social world are governed by same principles. Prof. Ratnapala’s exercise in research was an alternative radical methodology against stale practices and it did not consider universities purely as degree awarding institutions.

The nature of positivism versus phenomenology

Since matter has no consciousness its behaviour can be explained simply as a reaction to external stimuli. He or she sees, interprets and experiences the world in terms of meanings, actively constructs his/her own social reality.

Prof. Ratnapala’s methodology was ahead of numerical and often conducted in natural surroundings. His study of research promotes human experience that give us qualitative research that are words or texts rather than numbers to describe the experiences that are being studied.

Such research carries thick descriptions rather than crisp and terse background of information, comfort with contradictions and may include representatives of ethnographic prose, historical narratives, first person accounts, still photographs, life histories, biographical and quto-biographical material rather than mathematical models, statistical table, graphs and third person narratives.

Prof. Ratnapala’s Living in Reseach was prompted by phenomenological research approach in sociology. Prof. Ratnapala will be best remembered for his courage and pioneering efforts in seeking new paths of research, especially in social studies. He is better known for his research on the life of beggars, when the don himself became a beggar and carried out the study.

He is also one of the pioneers in popularizing sociology among the masses through his readable and interesting articles especially to the Sinhala press, which were accepted countrywide.

“Prof. Ratnapala’s concentration and deep study areas shunned the Sri Lankan academics of the ‘wretcheds’ of our society, from street children to beggars, vagrants and waifs. His wide range of interests included rural poverty, the impact of tourism on society, the folklore of Sri Lanka and sociological aspects of religious behaviour, drugs and narcotic and Buddhism”, were widely acclaimed quotes of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in referring to his contributions.

The major works of Prof. Ratnapala include texts on anthropology, sociology and criminology. Many texts, novels, poetry, paper articles were based on his numerous articles presented in Sinhala and English at national and international forums.

His language skills and closeness to people are well portrayed through these.

Professor Ratnapala was not a different man doing a different job when it came to conduct of research.

He had a vision of his own. The researcher must understand the people and the client. There is no better way than by living and immersing with them. His ideology was not confined to a text or an arm chair.

“I am really unhappy that most of us engaged in village/rural research target these essential qualities of a research worker. Today, I think twice before I assign a post graduate student to field work, the question that I could ask him/her is what could your research give to the people? It would give you an MA or Ph.D but how about the people,” Prof. Nandasena Ratnapala queried.

He also thought that there were many instances where the researcher’s questionair or interview schedule was drafted elsewhere and sent to be used here.

My contention is that in rural areas, especially the best method is to live and work with the people as Prof. Ratnapala encouraged.

Prof. Ratnapala’s methodology was ahead of the numericals often conducted in natural settings. Qualitative research is value laden, subjective and sees closeness with actor by interviewing and observing, inductive rather than deductive. It has multiple realities not just one. Principle and samples purposefully chosen for diversity rather than in random. In this context, we had much to gain from Prof N. Ratnapala’s methodology and conduct of research.

“There is no substitute to this, than mastering the alphabet of the village society or learning the grammar of the local society and culture”.

He would venture to find out how close the researcher is to the people, the extent of the sympathy and understanding towards them, the conduct, manner and enthusiasm about the objective and the worldwide curiosity to know them.