Transfer of academic staff learning in a research-intensive university

In both Australia and abroad, there is an increasing pressure towards professionalisation of university teaching, with the expectation that academic development courses, such as the Graduate Certificate in Education Studies (higher education), lead to better teaching and learning practices. However, the knowledge, skills and/or attitudes that educators intend students to learn may not transfer successfully back to the workplace. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including individual characteristics of the learner (e.g. ability, motivation), and situational characteristics (e.g. the climate for transfer, including adequacy of resources and peer/manager support). The present study investigates the impact of these factors on teaching staff in a research-intensive university. Two in-depth case studies, followed by thematic analysis of 15 Graduate Certificate alumni interviews regarding post-course experiences, revealed that qualities of the work environment played significant roles in interviewees' post-course attitudes, intentions and activities related to the transfer of learning. Implications for encouraging transfer under similar circumstances are discussed.     

Argumentative and trustworthy scholars: the construction of academic staff at research-intensive universities

Research-intensive universities, such as the Russell Group in the UK, the Ivy League Colleges in the USA and the Sandstone Universities in Australia, enjoy particular status in the higher education landscape. They are, however, also often associated with social elitism and selectivity, and this has led to critique as higher education systems seek to widen access. This article looks at how academic staff are discursively constructed in five such institutions in South Africa through an analysis of documentation submitted as part of a national review. Three interrelated discourses are identified: a discourse of ‘staff as scholars’ whereby research is privileged over teaching, a discourse of ‘academic argumentation’ whereby a critical disposition is valued and is called upon by academics to resist development initiatives and a discourse of ‘trust’ whereby it is assumed that academics share a value system and should thus be trusted to undertake quality teaching without interference.     

Professional development for sessional staff in higher education: a review of current evidence

The aim of this study was to provide an integrated review of evidence published in the past decade around professional development for sessional staff in higher education. Using the Integrating Theory, Evidence and Action method, the review analysed recent evidence using the three principles of the Benchmarking Leadership and Advancement of Standards for Sessional Teaching project – Quality Learning and Teaching, Sessional Staff Support and Sustainability. Quality Learning and Teaching refers to issues affecting the quality of sessional staff teaching and learning, while Sessional Staff Support refers to the provision of consistent support and inclusive infrastructure for sessional staff. The Sustainability principle refers to practices that encourage the retention of good sessional staff and the pursuit of quality teaching. Clear themes emerge from the evidence that suggest long-standing structural issues that are yet to be effectively addressed. However, several examples of effective strategies were also identified, particularly around peer observation and mentorship.     

Promoting and/or evading change: the role of student-staff partnerships in staff teaching development

ABSTRACT

While a large body of research considers factors enabling or constraining academic development in colleges and universities, comparatively little scholarship has considered the roles students might play in supporting positive change in staff teaching practices. This article explores one potential avenue by which such change might play out, considering the extent to which participation in a student-staff partnership programme supported by a central teaching and learning institute might encourage shifts in staff teaching. Drawing on data gathered via focus groups and online reflective prompts, we find that participating in pedagogical partnership can support a range of developments in staff teaching practices, though these changes might not always be pronounced or uniformly positive. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

From the outside in: tutor perspectives of student transformative experiences within Indigenous Studies health education

ABSTRACT

While more is becoming understood about the effects of Indigenous Studies health curricula on student preparedness and attitudes toward working in Indigenous health contexts, less is known about how tutors in this space interpret student experiences and contribute to the development of preparedness. Reporting on a qualitative study, this article provides insight into tutors’ perceptions of tertiary first year health students’ transformative experiences in an Indigenous Studies health course. Twelve Indigenous and non-Indigenous tutors were interviewed about their teaching experiences within this context. Framed by Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, thematic analysis findings suggest tutors observe several precursor steps to transformative learning including disorienting dilemmas, critical reflection on assumptions, exploration of new roles, and trying on new roles. The content of these themes extends our understanding of how these precursor steps manifest, and the elements related to this. Findings also suggest tutors vary in their identification, interpretation and response to many of these pedagogical entry points. Within this learning context, the concept of teacher/student relationship is suggested as playing a meaningful role in the positioning and efficacy of tutors. This impacts tutors' understanding of transformative learning, the social construction of students, consequent interpretations of student experiences, and means of facilitating cognitive and affective learning. We propose a reconceptualisation of thinking around teaching in this space, with a focus on both further development of educator capabilities and student curricular opportunities to promote transformative learning appropriate to the stated goals of the Australian Indigenous Studies learning and teaching context. The findings indicate that institutional investment in the development of educators in this space remains vitally important.     

美国大学“四A”原则及其对我国大学建设的启示

美国大学奉行的大学自治(academic autonomy)、学术自由(academic freedom)、学术中立(academic neutrality)和社会责任(accountability)四A原则,是美国大学执掌当今世界高等教育之牛耳的重要法宝。对照这一原则,目前我国大学建设中存在着大学自治虚化、学术权力弱化和社会责任淡化现象。解决这些问题,一要深化教育体制改革,落实大学自治权;二要加强大学制度建设和文化建设,保证学术自由权;三要处理好社会问责与大学自治、学术自由的关系,做到既问责又尊重。     

大学内部同类专业重复设置现象亟待整治

大学内部同类专业重复设置是办学中的不当行为,会给学校学科与专业的科学发展带来多方面的损害,其现象的主要根源是大学办学观念偏斜中的有关管理运行的失范,必须切实加以整治。     

The effect of change and transformation on academic staff and job satisfaction: A case of a South African University

No institution of higher education in the world can make valid claims that it is immune to the effects of change and transformation. An array of trends such as the massification of higher education, widened access, response to new demands of technology, globalisation, internationalisation, increased accountability, the use of new modes of delivery and materials, as well as dwindling higher education resources, are placing enormous pressure on staff (Green and Hayward, Transforming Higher Education. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1997). Not only are traditional academic roles changing, but – in certain instances – working conditions have become unfavourable and unsupportive of staff’s efforts to pursue the mission of higher education. The article presents the outcome of a case study that was undertaken in a historically White Afrikaans university to investigate the implications of change and transformation on academic staff. Although the case study was conducted within a localised boundary of space and time of one institution, the authors are of the opinion that enough evidence exists that, given the dominating ruling culture of the apartheid’s regime, to which no university in South Africa was immune, it is most likely that other institutions will relate with the findings of the research. The study was emancipatory in that it sought to inform the university management about how transformation was affecting academics and their job satisfaction and to establish which strategies the University had in place or hoped to put in place to make the environment favourable for change. Academics were also involved in making recommendations on how the areas of dissatisfaction could best be addressed.     

Navigating across academic contexts: Campo and Angolan students in a Brazilian university

This paper draws on the Academic Literacies approach to examine tutor/student relations in the production of academic texts. We address issues associated with learning to write in such contexts, through exploring the perspectives of two groups of non-traditional students as they reflect on their experiences in navigating educational contexts in a Brazilian public university. The term non-traditional is used here to refer to students from social groups whose previous generation had no, or very limited, access to university. In order to explore the “hidden features” of the contextualized nature of academic writing, we present two cases: students from Angola and from Campo, both groups not traditionally represented in Brazilian universities. We explored the development of writing in academic contexts by examining tensions identified by these students and their tutors/teachers as they engaged with academic literacies.     

Class,capital, and competing academic discourse: a critical analysis of the mission/s of American higher education

In this paper, we critically analyze institutional mission statements as discursive texts replete with symbolic meaning, as we believe these texts reveal a great deal about the ways in which higher education remains increasingly stratified. We argue that beneath the generalized rhetoric of institutional mission statements, lie powerful messages seemingly coded with varying forms of class-based academic capital. We further argue that these messages reflect two distinct, competing discourses surrounding the purpose and value of higher education, that parallel the stratification of the larger system itself. Findings reveal evidence of these competing discourses and contribute to larger discussions surrounding educational inequality.     

Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: a mixed-method social network perspective

How and with whom academics develop and maintain formal and informal networks for reflecting on their teaching practice has received limited attention even though academic development (AD) programmes have become an almost ubiquitous feature of higher education. The primary goal of this mixed-method study is to unpack how 114 academics in an AD programme developed internal (within their programme) and external (outside their programme) learning and teaching relations. A secondary goal is to highlight the affordances of social network analysis (SNA) methods in conjunction with qualitative approaches for academic developers to understand the (in)formal learning processes in their AD programme. The quantitative results indicate that participants maintained 4.84 relations within their AD programme and 3.17 external ties. The qualitative results indicate that most academics developed a range of emotional, academic, and professional support links, which were mostly outside the AD context. Participants needed an outlet to share their feelings, challenges, and frustrations about their teaching and their experiences on the AD programme. These feelings were shared with people they trusted, primarily close friends and colleagues. This study provides a social perspective on the formal and informal relations of AD, and argues that SNA techniques can help academic developers to make these relationships visible.     

Responding to the challenges of student-staff partnership: the reflections of participants at an international summer institute

This article contributes to the growing scholarly literature about students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education by describing an initiative designed to support partnership and a study investigating international staff and student perspectives. The initiative – an international summer institute – is a four-day, professional development experience that brought together students and staff from seven countries to learn about partnership and develop specific partnership projects. Participants in the institute were invited to contribute to a qualitative study exploring their experiences of students as partners work and their perceptions of the institute’s capacity to support it. Given that much existing research on this topic tends to be celebratory, we focus here on the challenges participants ascribed to student-staff partnership, and on the features of the summer institute they thought particularly useful in helping them to navigate these difficulties. Looking beyond the summer institute, we consider the implications of these findings for those looking to support partnership more broadly.     

Challenges facing Chinese academic staff in a UK university in terms of language,relationships and culture

The recruitment of international academic staff is viewed as one of the strategies to internationalise the universities. International academic staff, however, usually encounter many challenges when in a foreign context. This study aims to investigate the challenges of Chinese academic staff teaching in the UK in terms of language, relationships and culture. Eight Chinese academic staff from three different disciplines in one UK university were interviewed. The interviews focused on three areas: their language abilities, socialisation patterns and ideas of pedagogy. It is hoped the study may help institutions, educators and scholars to consider this worthwhile issue as an area of study and provide better support to meet the needs of international academic staff.     

Higher education leadership in Russia: a case study of mid-level academic management at an elite State university

This paper analyzes the Head of Department (HoD) role at an elite State university in Russia. It draws upon documentary analysis of government texts and focus groups with both HoDs and lecturers. It concludes that most HoDs are invited to apply for the role by more senior university colleagues. Once in post, they are offered a range of helpful courses, but also learn from experience and by observing others. The primary purpose of the role is seen as clarifying and interpreting central university expectations, though there is scope for influencing the departmental vision. Whilst the role is very time-consuming, it does not seem to generate the kind of managerialist ‘values' conflict reported elsewhere. The paper ends with a tentative framework for explaining how certain contextual factors (motivation, mode of appointment, perceived level of surveillance and previous experience of higher and/or lower levels of centralized control) might increase or decrease ‘values' conflict.     

An empirical study on gender differences in the perception of support during transition to university

Research has highlighted the importance of members of staff knowing their students and one way of achieving that is to ask them to predict students' responses to questions about the teaching process. To this end, student responses to open-ended questionnaires were content analysed to produce a questionnaire about factors that contribute to productive seminars and lectures. A total of 148 psychology students ranked the factors in order of importance and 13 members of academic staff predicted student responses. Results indicated that, despite some differences, members of staff were reasonably accurate in their predictions of student responses. It was also seen that student views were relatively consistent across student levels. The importance of the findings in relation to teaching practice are discussed.     

Responding to university policies and initiatives: the role of reflexivity in the mid-career academic

How do academics make sense of university policies and strategic initiatives and act on them? Interviews were conducted with 27 mid-career academics in different disciplines, different research-intensive university environments and two countries (England and Australia). Data were analysed iteratively utilising a critical realist perspective, specifically, Archer’s modes of reflexivity. The paper argues that individuals’ responses to university policies and initiatives, to changes in policy and policy conflicts, can at least partially be understood through interrogating the modes of reflexivity they employ.     

美国全纳教育对学习障碍学生的教育影响

全纳教育通过为有障碍和无障碍学生建立学习型社区,使所有学生在适龄的普通教育场景接受相同的教育。全纳教育代表所有学生的利益,提倡教师要为差异而教。学习障碍学生是美国中小学接受特殊教育的最大群体。全纳教育对美国学习障碍学生的教育安置、学业进步和社会性发展均产生一定影响。研究全纳教育对学习障碍学生的教育影响有助于提高全纳教育的效能并对评估和推进全纳教育起到指导作用。     

Technology for all: turning a keyword into a school subject in post-war Sweden

The decades following the Second World War saw strong technological development and economic growth. They also saw ‘the advent of technology education’, a period of extensive curriculum development in this field. But what was done and why? In order to obtain a better understanding of the historical roots of technology education, in this study the mid-century school reforms in Sweden are examined and, more specifically, the birth of the new subject of Technology (Teknik) in compulsory schools. In this article, the political forces driving the introduction and shaping of this new subject are emphasised. In a time of rapid transformations of educational systems and labour markets, the term Teknik proved to be a useful concept for policy-makers and reform technocrats. However, the subject came to re-create the inequalities of the earlier differentiated school system, despite its presence within the framework of a school ‘for all’.     

Enhancing outcomes and reducing inhibitors to the engagement of students and staff in learning and teaching partnerships: implications for academic development

A growing body of literature on students as partners in learning and teaching offers evidence on which academic developers can draw when supporting, advocating for, or engaging in partnerships. We extend a previous systematic review of the partnership literature by presenting an analysis and discussion of the positive and negative outcomes of partnership, and the inhibitors to partnership. Implications include the importance of academic developers supporting: the relational processes of partnership; institutional or structural change to address resistance; and the potential of partnership to make institutions more equitable and empowering spaces.     

浅谈高校图书馆工作人员的素质

高校图书馆是学校图书资料情报中心,是为教学科研服务的学术性机构,要发挥了图书馆的作用,图书馆的工作人员必须具备的思想道德素质、高深的专业理论素质、适应未来发展需要的整体素质。