A Multi-Island Situation Without the Ocean: Tutors' perceptions about working in isolation from colleagues

Fouche, Ilse

doi:10.19173/irrodl.v7i2.295

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, feelings of isolation encountered by distance education academics were alleviated through collaborative, supportive, work-integrated professional development processes (Fouche, 2006). While there is an assumption that teaching practices, and therefore students' learning outcomes, may be improved if academics spend more time engaging in professional development activities, both Hunzicker (2011) and Yoon et al (2007) suggest further research is still needed to substantiate any causal links in this area.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional development and the university casual academic: integration and support strategies for distance education

Higgins

Harreveld²

2013

Distance Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Professional development is imperative for the currency and relevancy of a proficient teaching workforce in distance education, and in turn, the quality of programs being delivered. As participation in distance education within Australian universities is growing, with increasing numbers of academics being required to teach, casual employment of academic staff is often undertaken. As a consequence, casual academics now undertake significant amounts of university teaching loads. In addition, although employed on a casual basis, casual academics often have ongoing relationships with the university, spanning more than one teaching period and in some cases, even years. Professional development is crucial to ensure the replenishment and vivacity of the university, its academics and students. Consequently, the goal of this constructivist grounded theoretical study was to explore the experiences of casual distance education academics, from which professional development emerged as a key theme. Twelve casual academics from a regional university discussed their work experiences through an in-depth semistructured interview. The findings revealed that distance education casual academics accessed a range of formal and informal professional development opportunities. Informal professional development included mentoring, which casual academics highly valued. Formal professional development activities provided by the university were also noted; however, casual academics were sometimes unaware that these existed. Finally, recommendations regarding successful professional development programs for casual academics are given, with particular emphasis on an Early Career Education Research group that operates at the university and is open to all staff.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional development and the university casual academic: integration and support strategies for distance education

Higgins

Harreveld²

2013

Distance Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, when people place trust in colleagues and administrators according to "a common set of norms" (p. 27), operational costs decrease. Fouche (2006) asserts that if feelings of isolation are reduced, faculty retention is likely to rise, which means that the university will retain the precious knowledge and skills of good workers. This is important to keep employee turnover rates down and to minimize the need to constantly hire inexperienced instructors, which can entail significant added costs for recruitment, training, and coaching, as well as for additional course materials.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The isolation of online adjunct faculty and its impact on their performance

Dolan¹

2011

IRRODL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using a grounded theory qualitative research approach, this article examines the experiences of 28 adjunct faculty members who work at the same university, exploring their views on whether periodically meeting face-to-face with management and peers has the potential to affect their motivation on the job and consequently the quality of education they provide to students. A few management representatives also shared their perspectives on the phenomenon; this enabled the researcher to compare the views of these two populations on whether face-to-face contact among faculty enhances teaching performance. The results of this study suggest a few issues that online schools must address in their efforts to improve adjuncts' sense of affiliation and loyalty to their institution, which in turn will positively affect student retention levels. The main issues of concern to adjunct faculty are (a) inadequate frequency and depth of communication, regardless of the means used, whether online or face-to-face; (b) lack of recognition of instructors' value to the institution; and (c) lack of opportunities for skill development.Keywords: Adjunct faculty; affiliation; isolation; loyalty; organizational commitment; psychological isolation; sense of community; social capital; trust International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Vol. 12.2 February -2011The Isolation of Online Adjunct Faculty and its Impact on their Performance Véra Dolan DePaul University and Ellis University, USA The Isolation of Online Adjunct Faculty and its Impact on their Performance Dolan 63 IntroductionA growing number of US workers are telecommuters who perform their jobs remotely most days of the week. Among these millions of virtual workers are many online educators, particularly adjunct instructors who teach for distance education institutions across North America and in other parts of the world.Academic administrators, increasingly aware of the potential alienation that physical distance can cause, have looked for ways to create a greater sense of community among online adjunct faculty members. The rationale for their efforts is based on the hope that online faculty will exchange best practices, thereby improving both their skills and their motivation; this ideally will enable schools to retain students because superior services are provided by motivated faculty members. However, educational administrators often appear to concentrate solely on the accomplishment of tasks, disregarding the importance of nurturing relational, social, and personal ties with telecommuting staff.Many administrators who oversee virtual faculty apparently believe that with advanced technology they can create dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration, which in their minds should be sufficient to cultivate loyalty among instructors. However, in order to encourage the best possible performance from remote workers, it is essential for educational institutions to understand that regardless of how sophisticated technology may be in opening communications ch...

show abstract

“…While there are a multitude of quantitative and qualitative studies that explore the experience of adjunct faculty (Bergmann, ; Cashwell, ; Cunningham, ; Diener, ; Dolan, ; Edwards & Shepherd, ; Fouche, ; Gappa, Austin, & Trice, ; Gappa & Leslie, ; Green, ; Hoyt et al, ; Kayworth & Leidner, ; Leslie & Gappa, ; Scott, ; Truell, Price, & Joyner, ) to the author's knowledge, there are limited research studies concerning the intrinsic factors that influence adjunct faculty members’ job satisfaction. Cunningham () concluded there is a need to further study adjunct faculty in more detail.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Worthy Asset: The Adjunct Faculty and the Influences on Their Job Satisfaction

Rich

2015

To Improve the Academy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The author explored the intrinsic factors that foster job satisfaction of adjunct faculty members working in the southeastern United States. The literature concerning adjunct work experiences is limited, although adjuncts comprise the great majority of the faculty pool in many community and technical colleges. Twenty‐seven adjuncts’ work experiences were examined to identify the key intrinsic workplace factors that impact their job satisfaction. Data were collected concerning the adjuncts’ work environment; professional relationships with administrators, students, and fellow adjuncts; and the overall perceptions on job satisfaction. The findings, implications of the study, limitations of the study, and recommendations for improved adjunct job satisfaction are discussed.

show abstract

A Multi-Island Situation Without the Ocean: Tutors' perceptions about working in isolation from colleagues

Cited by 14 publications

References 4 publications

Professional development and the university casual academic: integration and support strategies for distance education

Professional development and the university casual academic: integration and support strategies for distance education

The isolation of online adjunct faculty and its impact on their performance

A Worthy Asset: The Adjunct Faculty and the Influences on Their Job Satisfaction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About