International academic staff in UK higher education: campus internationalisation and innovation in academic practice

Abstract

Amidst opportunities for universities to consider international academic staff in supporting internationalisation and innovation in academic practice, there is very little research to provide insights into their attitudes towards institutional approaches and frameworks in place to enable this. This article focuses on this research gap, suggesting that this academic community might enhance the development of internationally-informed and innovative pedagogic practice. The research reported within the article constitutes a preliminary study, set within a UK higher education case study setting. Methods included focus groups and themed in-depth interviews with a sample of 34 international academic staff from over 15 countries. The findings and discussion provide insights into the perspectives and experiences of international academic staff in relation to the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning and other institutional practice. Innovative pedagogic practice as enabled by international academic staff is discussed, as are approaches to the internationalisation of the curricula. The findings are relevant to the UK higher education context but also to the global context: academic institutions need to consider whether curriculum and processes are limited and limiting in favour of a narrow cultural lens.     

Outsourcing academic development in higher education: staff perceptions of an international program

Increasingly, higher education support services are being outsourced. Our case study was of a program from a global, USA-based, non-profit organisation. From in-depth interviews, we investigated staff perceptions of academic development workshops and the efficacy of outsourcing to a transnational tertiary-support program. We found that interviewees valued the academic development. They believed greater consideration should be given to cultural differences between exporting and importing countries; to evidence-based assessment of, and institutional leadership support for, the program; and to discipline-based and tertiary-level skills. Our preliminary findings may inform university management about improved approaches to outsourcing academic development to international commercial providers.     

Behind the Rhetoric: women academic staff in colleges of higher education in England

The paper is based on research into the position of women academic staff in a sample of colleges of higher education in England. This reveals a pattern of entrenched sexual inequality in these institutions, especially at middle and senior management levels. A similar pattern has been found in the university and polytechnic sectors of higher education. However, in the colleges there is an even greater disjunction between the sexual distribution of students and staff. The research is related to recent literature on equal opportunities in education. It is argued that the formal curriculum of equal opportunities is continually subverted by a hidden curriculum of unequal opportunities. Finally, several approaches to positive intervention are suggested.     

Teaching with technology in higher education: understanding conceptual change and development in practice

Research indicates that teachers’ conceptions of and approaches to teaching with technology are central for the successful imple-mentation of educational technologies in higher education. This study advances this premise. We present a 10-year longitudinal study examining teachers’ conceptions of and approaches to teaching and learning with technology. Nine teachers on an online Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and a Master of Pharmacy programme at a Swedish university were studied using a phenomenographic approach. Results showed clear differences between novice and experienced teachers. Although novice teachers initially held more teacher-focused conceptions, they demonstrated greater and more rapid change than experienced colleagues. Experienced teachers tended to exhibit little to no change in conceptions. Supporting conceptual change should, therefore, be a central component of professional development activities if a more effective use of educational technology is to be achieved.     

Being punk in higher education: subcultural strategies for academic practice

Since its beginnings in the late 1970s, punk culture has been associated with counter-mainstream ideology and anti-institutional antagonism. In particular, formal education has been criticised in punk for sustaining oppressive social and conceptual orders and associated behavioural norms. Drawing on literature and interviews, this paper focuses on the experiences of higher education teachers who self-identify as punks, and considers how they negotiate and reconcile their subcultural and academic identities in their academic practice. The findings reveal that participants’ affiliations with punk subculture give rise to counter-cultural pedagogies in which both the ethics and aesthetics of punk are applied in classroom contexts. Furthermore, the participants draw upon subcultural ethical and epistemological narratives to formulate and rationalise their responses to the state of contemporary UK higher education.     

The influence of sociocultural and structural contexts in academic change and development in higher education

Teaching quality improvements frequently focus upon the ‘development’ of individual academics in higher education. However, research also shows that the academics’ context has considerable influence upon their practices. This study examines the working environments of teachers on an online pharmacy programme, investigating contextual conditions that facilitate or impede academic change and development. Interview data and institutional policy documents are examined within a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory framework. Distinct differences in the teachers’ sociocultural context were identified as influencing change and development. Departmental teaching cultures and patterns of communication influenced practice both positively, by offering collegial support, and negatively by impeding change. The findings have significance for academic development strategies. They suggest that departmental-level support should include communicative pathways that promote reflection upon and development of conceptions of teaching and learning.     

Creating change agents for interprofessional education and practice: a leadership programme for academic staff and health practitioners

Universities face increasing pressure not only to embed interprofessional education within health education curricula but also to prepare graduates as catalysts of change for interprofessional, team-based approaches to health care delivery. Currently, few leadership programmes exist that support the expansion of interprofessional education. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a leadership programme aimed to build faculty and health practitioners’ capacity to become change agents for interprofessional education and practice. The programme was delivered by two Australian universities, each in partnership with a local health care provider. A mixed method approach was adopted to measure participants’ pre- and post- knowledge, reactions to the programme, planned and reported behavioural changes, and organizational outcomes. The programme was positively evaluated and reported to increase participants’ understanding of interprofessional education and practice. Follow up with participants suggested the programme had facilitated the implementation of interprofessional education and practice in both academic and practice contexts.     

Communities of practice in higher education: professional learning in an academic career

This article focuses on the life history of a university academic, and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career. This account raises questions about the applicability of situated learning theory to a knowledge-based organisation, and argues that both the external context and the individuals within the community impinge on learning. It suggests that the role of academic staff developers may vary depending on the CoP and should include developing networks, facilitation, providing relevant expertise, improving harmony within CoPs and harnessing the benefits of internationally dispersed CoPs.     

An exploratory study on academic staff perception towards blended learning in higher education

Education and Information Technologies - As the years progresses, higher education has move towards implementing Blended Learning (BL) which is a combination of face-to-face and online mode of...     

高等教育的依附发展与学术殖民

一些国家高等教育的发展受到少数几个国家高等教育优势地位的支配,或者说,一些国家高等教育的发展依赖于少数几个国家高等教育的主导。因此,依附的实质是不平等的国际政治、经济关系在高等教育领域的反映。就高等教育而言,谋求发展的惟一出路在于:参与国际竞争,融入国际化的潮流。中国的高等教育只能在不平等的竞争中走向国际化,让世界的成为中国的,让中国的成为世界的,是中国高等教育国际化的两大战略目标。     

Negotiating academic teacher identity shifts during higher education contextual change

Higher education teachers’ roles and identities are constantly shifting in response to contextual change. Pedagogy, values, and professional and personal narratives of self are all affected, particularly by technological change. This paper explores the role and identity shifts of academics during the introduction of large-class videoconferencing. Their experiences of personal and pedagogical ‘doing’ and ‘being’ demonstrate how ambiguity of role, non-alignment of values with practice realities and unanticipated disruption of self-representation are variably resolved by individuals. The findings suggest that successfully negotiating identity shifts may be essential for coherent personal and professional narratives, while lack of a collective response to contextual change may explain why academic teacher identity challenges are overlooked at the institutional level. We recommend identification, discussion, and alignment of institutional, professional, and personal pedagogical goals prior to contextual change.     

Theory development and application in higher education research: the case of academic drift

This article examines the case of academic drift, as an example of a theory developed and applied within higher education research. It traces the origins and meaning of the term, reviews its application by higher education researchers, and discusses the issues it raises and the critiques it has attracted. It concludes that academic drift is at the heart of the long-standing liberal/vocational education debate, so is likely to continue to attract attention. The contemporary application of this theoretical framework also illustrates both the tendency for researchers to re-invent similar ideas in different times and places, and to ignore or overlook the work of some researchers whilst acknowledging that of others.     

论高等学校干部领导力的开发--兼谈西华师范大学培养干部领导力的探索

领导力是基于领导者个人素质并影响他人自觉行为的一种无形的力量。培育与开发高校干部的领导力,是加强高校干部队伍建设的必然选择,也是高校干部队伍建设的主题。针对高校发展战略的需要,对干部的抱负与方向、战略思维、变革管理能力提出更明确的要求,采取多种形式培育和开发干部领导力,对高校干部的健康成长,促进学校事业的发展具有重要意义。     

Talent management in transnational higher education: strategies for managing academic staff at international branch campuses

The study investigates the practices of academic staff talent management at international branch campuses, with the aim of identifying a range of practical strategies that may address the unique challenges of managing talent in campuses located far away from the home country. These strategies are intended to improve service quality and add value to institution profiles. Based on an online questionnaire, ad hoc email correspondence and publicly available information, five case studies are presented. Talent management emerges as a key strategic area, directly managed at dean/president level. Referrals and online portals are commonly utilised as channels to attract talent, and the need to sometimes uplift local packages to recruit and retain talent is recognised. It is concluded that the development of academic staff should be viewed as an investment, and the availability of research funding and teaching awards on campus may be used to attract, develop and retain talent.     

Professional development models and transformative change: A case study of indicators of effective practice in higher education

Unrelenting and radical change in universities over the past two decades has increased pressure on all groups of staff to clarify and adapt their roles to accommodate transformation within the sector. The challenge for professional developers is to understand and develop roles that effectively meet the diverse needs of key employee groups who are negotiating this massive change and, as a consequence, experiencing role conflict and ambiguity. Studies over the past 10 to 15 years have attempted to define models of effective professional development practice, but there is limited research on effectiveness indicators of professional developer roles in large-scale change. The research reported here addresses this gap. The paper presents a case study in which ten academic and general staff members developed a profile of indicators of an effective professional developer role in transformative change, and raises questions about the theoretical foundation and practice of professional development in higher education.     

Emerging learning environments in higher education: Implications for institutional change and academic developers

Abstract

Wright and O'Neil's (1995) international survey of promising teaching improvement practices in higher education (HE) placed the existence of teaching support centres close to the top of the thirty‐six item scale. One conclusion that may be drawn from their findings is that many of the responding institutions see the role of academic developer as significant in helping to monitor trends and planning activities that can lead to quality of educational provision. This paper outlines several scenarios relating to learning environments potentially emerging in HE, describes implications for institutional change, and defines key assumptions for bringing about a development culture. Additionally, the paper reviews how these contextual factors may impact on the role of academic developer and concludes with a suggestion for a ‘developers’ curriculum’ that may merit consideration by members of the International Consortium for Educational Development in Higher Education (ICED).