Theoretical thinking ability is a particularly important quality; it is the basis for young lecturers to properly perceive the nature of scientific knowledge, answer practical military problems; creatively apply scientific theoretical knowledge to teaching, do research and perform other tasks effectively. Therefore, improving the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers is an important, urgent and long-term task. This paper will discuss methods to improve the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers at the Kaysone Phomvihane National Defence Academy.

The Kaysone Phomvihane National Defence Academy is the highest training centre for political and military cadres of the Lao People's Army, established on December 13, 1996. Every year, the Academy trains hundreds of students who are senior officials of the Party and the State through training courses on national defence and security matters, strategic and operational command and staff courses; and post-graduate courses, etc., making an important contribution to the cause of building the armed force and strengthening the national defence of Laos in the new situation. Realising the importance of young lecturers, over the years, the Academy has always focused on improving their theoretical thinking ability, considering this as an effective solution to improve the overall training quality of the institution.

In the face of the rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution, globalisation, and international integration, the task of building and defending the Lao Motherland has also had new developments, however, the development in the theoretical thinking ability of many young lecturers remains relatively slow, hindering the ability to perceive scientific knowledge, experience and pedagogical skills, etc. This has notable impacts on the task performance of these young lecturers and the overall education and training quality of the Academy. To overcome this problem, it is necessary to continue to improve the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers with the following fundamental solutions:

First, uphold the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in improving the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers. This is the most important factor in creating a favourable environment for the improvement of the theoretical thinking ability of lecturers in general and young lecturers in particular. To this end, the Party Committee of the Academy should issue a thematic resolution on addressing weaknesses in the development of the teaching staff. This will ensure the correct political orientation, help the leadership and Party committees of subordinate units of the Academy, especially teaching faculties, set goals, directions, requirements, contents and methods to improve the quality of their teaching staff and the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers. Besides, relevant authorities must effectively advise the Party Committee and Director Board of the Academy in all aspects of professional work and proactively develop and manage plans for training, research, recruitment, personnel work, and logistics, technical and financial work for the operation of the Academy, creating favourable conditions for young lecturers to actively participate in practical activities, thereby improving their knowledge, experience and theoretical thinking ability in the military environment. Mass organisations, especially the Youth Union, must operate in accordance to their functions and duties, clearly present their roles and responsibilities in gathering and attracting contingents to effectively organise and participate in movements aiming to successfully realise the central political task of education, training and research of the Academy, and develop practical and effective action plans to promote the democratic and innovative mind of young lecturers. Faculties and departments – units that directly manage, educate, train and improve the quality of young lecturers – have an immediate impact on the process of improving the knowledge, scientific thinking ability, and pedagogical methods and manner of young lecturers; therefore, they must have a comprehensive grasp on the quality of young lecturers, correctly assess the qualifications, professional skills, forte, aptitude, strengths and weaknesses of each individual. In addition, they must proactively develop plans to foster and improve necessary qualities, including theoretical thinking ability, for young lecturers.

Second, create favourable environment and conditions for young lecturers to improve their theoretical thinking ability. The environment and conditions for scientific research at the Kaysone Phomvihane National Defence Academy in general and at the Academy’s teaching faculties in particular “are both the basis and the driving force to encourage young lecturers to be enthusiastic, active and creative in learning, training, implementing scientific research and develop qualities and personae in accordance to the training objectives.” To this end, the Academy needs to create a democratic environment for teaching and scientific research, encourage discovery, debate and discussion, respect independence and self-control; prevent one-sided imposition and bias in research activities, and create favourable conditions to motivate young lecturers to improve their own theoretical thinking ability. Besides, teaching faculties need to promote activities such as: workshops, seminars, academic discussions, etc. to help young lecturers to grasp fundamental knowledge and practical experience, acquire new ideas and methods, know how to assess different opinions, and defend their own ideas with solid arguments. This will enable young lecturers to expand their knowledge, explore and discover the truth, and find ways to apply these discoveries into practice, foster their ability to express, and develop their independent and creative thinking ability, forming a sharper theoretical thinking for young lecturers. At the same time, it is necessary to effectively implement policy of granting material and mentality rewards for young lecturers to encourage them to be more active in doing scientific research. Because, according to President Kaysone Phomvihane “the work of implementing supportive policies is very important, if this work is done correctly and appropriately, it will motive and encourage individuals to actively fulfil their tasks, on the contrary, if it is done wrong, this will discourage people, leading to failures in task fulfilment”.

Third, actively exchange materialistic dialectical thinking methods through teaching practice, scientific research and practical activities at subordinate units of the Academy. Theoretical thinking is the culmination of the cognitive process, and its core is the materialistic dialectical thinking method. On the other hand, the work of training on the method of dialectical materialistic thinking through practical activities at subordinate units of a training institute is a unique solution of the military pedagogical process. Unlike civilian universities, at the Kaysone Phomvihane National Defence Academy, students do not simply finish their courses by completing all theoretical subjects, the training process of the Academy is closely linked to military practice to train cadres and officers to adapt to both wartime and peacetime conditions, thereby improving the creative ability and theoretical thinking for young lecturers. Therefore, in order to improve the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers, it is necessary to actively exchange materialistic dialectical thinking methods for them through teaching practice, scientific research and practical activities at grass-root units. This process must follow the teaching of V.I. Lenin: “Consciousness is the eternal and inexhaustible approach of thought to the object. It reflects nature in human thought... is in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and the resolution of those contradictions. When their materialistic dialectical thinking method is enhanced, it will create favourable conditions for young lecturers to absorb scientific knowledge and perceive military pedagogical practice more effectively. Just like that, the process of pedagogical interaction will transform, develop and improve intellectual qualities and reasoning ability of not only learners but also teachers. Additionally, each young lecturer must be self-disciplined and active in doing scientific research, because this is a requirement, a task, as well as an opportunity to improve their own dialectical thinking method toward the creation of new knowledge. This is also the chance for young lecturers to demonstrate and assert their theoretical thinking ability after accumulating a certain amount of scientific knowledge and practical experience in military matters. 

Fourth, promote the role of self-cultivation, self-training and self-improvement of the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers. Young lecturers are both objects and subjects of the process of improving their theoretical thinking ability. The training process at academic institutions as well as workplaces plays an important role, but it cannot replace self-learning, self-training, and self-improvement of the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers. On the contrary, these self-learning, self-training, and self-improvement are decisive factors in determining their qualifications and theoretical thinking ability. The basic requirement for raising awareness and responsibility of young lecturers is to encourage their enthusiasm and self-discipline in accumulating source knowledge and practical experience and improving scientific thinking methods to meet the increasing demands of the duties of a lecturer in the Military.

The basic requirement in raising awareness, the responsibility of young lecturers is to arouse positivity, initiative and self-discipline to accumulate source knowledge, practical experience, and practice scientific thinking methods to meet the increasing demands of the duties of a lecturer in the Army. The contents of young lecturers’ self-study activities for the improvement of their theoretical thinking ability must be comprehensive, including factors that reflect the political orientation for the Military, and elements that constitute the theoretical thinking ability. The cultivation of the materialistic dialectical thinking method is considered to be an effective solution to gradually address the problems of dogmatism and overconfidence among young lecturers.

The reality is constantly evolving, therefore, researching and flexibly applying the aforementioned solutions to improve the theoretical thinking ability of young lecturers are to improve their awareness in all aspects, their understanding of scientific knowledge, as well as their pedagogical method and qualities. This is also considered as the basis to effectively perform teaching and researching tasks at the Kaysone Phomvihane National Defence Academy, contributing to the work of developing a high-quality human resource for the Lao People’s Army and the country in the new situation.

Major SOUKPHOUVAN SOULINHASAENG, Ph.D student, Political Academy, Ministry of National Defence