The professional development of Australian university teachers: An act of faith?

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.

Academic staff training in British universities: Results of a national survey

“…These are perennial problems in staff training and development (Brown, 1977;Wergin, 1977;Hewton, 1979;Teather, 1979;Cannon, 1983). The clues, if not the solution, lie in the suggestions offered by the respondents themselves.…”

Changes in Academic Staff Perceptions of the Status of Teaching and Research

“…Cannon (1983) has suggested that herein may lie one explanation for the apparent failure of teaching improvement initiatives in Australian universities. Typically such initiatives have focussed on developing the individual in the hope that the 'good' word would spread.…”

Work life balance and job satisfaction among faculty at Iowa State University

“…Faculty members, besides belonging to their own organizations, also owe allegiance to other disciplinary colleagues, often feeling the later loyalty stronger than the institutional one (Cannon, 1983). Therefore, besides the evidence that might point towards a common perception of culture, faculty members also respond to two main sources of variation:…”