The professional development of Australian university teachers: An act of faith? |
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| Authors: | Robert A Cannon |
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| Institution: | 1. Advisory Centre for University Education, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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| Abstract: | Teaching is the major professional activity of academic staff in Australian universities. Much disquiet about the quality of this teaching has been expressed by governments, committees of enquiry, students and by academics. There have been several attempts to improve the quality of university teaching, all of which have been considerable acts of faith. The persistence of disquiet, however, suggests that past efforts to improve the quality of university teaching have not been completely successful. An analysis of universities as organizations, of the characteristics of academic staff, and of the change process in universities leads to a number of conclusions about why past attempts to improve teaching may not have been as successful as hoped. First, the problem of improving teaching is extraordinarily complex. Complexity is inherent in the organizational character of universities and in the characteristics of academic staff and their work. Second, the attempts made to deal with the teaching problem are novel: the major responses to improving teaching did not come until the early-mid 1970s. Third, there was - and still is - a weak theoretical and knowledge base for action and, finally, the focus on developing individuals may not have been the best focus for teaching improvement strategies. |
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