Harvard Business School

At a November 1965 faculty meeting, the School's overseas activities were the main focus of discussion. Professor Dick Dooley reported on the state of the International Teachers Program. By that point, he said, 197 participants from 35 countries had been through the ITP—of whom 70 percent were from developing nations. In that year, 38 foreign nationals were going through the program: the largest enrollment ever.

Dooley noted that ITP had problems, as well. One of the stated goals of the program was to help academics develop skills in teaching and research, but something like two-thirds of ITP participants appeared to be exclusively interested in content, rather than pedagogy and research methods.

During the discussion that followed, as the faculty minutes recorded, Professor Ray Vernon—a veteran of the School's overseas programs—took the floor:

"Professor Vernon said he had little doubt that our method of teaching at Harvard was good for the U.S. and, possibly, Britain. He was not so sure of other places. Approaches used for teaching in other areas of the world are profoundly different, and they are successful. We know how to teach in our culture. Undoubtedly, there is considerable carryover. However, a simple extension of our methods would be dangerous if transferred, unknowingly, into other cultures . . . He said that there was, in his opinion, a touch of arrogance in assuming that the way we teach is relevant elsewhere."