Universitets- og høgskolepedagogers profesjonelleansvar

Abstract

This article sheds light on and discusses academic developers' (ADs') professional responsibility at a time when their responsibilities are expanding. Increasingly ADs are expected to contribute to enhancing quality in higher education not only by providing courses and supervision for teachers, but also by supporting institutional leaders in the implementation of politically initiated strategies. As our starting point, we use a theoretical framework based on the normative basis for professions, and draw the analogy to academic developers' responsibilities. Thereafter, we describe the two different logics underlying professional responsibility and accountability, where the latter has gained dominance in the New Public Management of higher education. We show how the presence of these two logics creates tensions, as well as new obligations for ADs, and argue that acting professionally responsible today requires negotiating legitimate compromises in the tension between «responsibility» and «accountability», as well as the ability to act in coherence with such compromises. Central tensions are illustrated by university academic developers' descriptions of their work. In conclusion, we argue that reaching legitimate compromises must be seen not as an individual but as a collective responsibility negotiated in a community of ADs.Keywords responsibility, accountability, web of commitments, legitimate compromises, the purpose of higher education INNLEDNING Jag är också ordförande i bedömargruppen, det är väldigt aktuellt nu då vi har ett meriteringssystem på Örebro universitet, där jag bara svarar för egentligen processledning, jag går inte in och bedömer någonting utan sam-, ja, sammanställer och håller i intervjuplanering.

Drama og teater som tilnærming i aksjonsforskning – å øve på framtida

“…Men spørsmålet om hva utdanningskvalitet er, er under debatt. Med New Public Management-logikken er det et økende press om å vise målbare resultater både innen forskning og undervisning (Hanssen et al, 2017;Solbrekke & Fremstad, 2018). Effektivisering er et mål, samtidig som behovet for relevans av utdanningen er stort (Stensaker, 2018).…”

“…For det første finnes det nå altså et krav som legitimerer slik forskning. Dessuten synes det nødvendig at forskningen trekker på både tekniske, praktiske og frigjørende aspekter, for å møte kravet om økt effektivitet og målbare resultater på den ene siden, og på den andre siden behovet for relevans for en mangfoldig studentgruppe i et samfunn i rask endring (Solbrekke & Fremstad, 2018). Universiteter og høyskoler har fått en mer mangeartet studentgruppe, og må utvikle undervisningen slik at den ikke bare treffer de som i utgangspunktet er mest motiverte (Biggs & Tang, 2011).…”

When the work of academic developers branches out: Considering trade-offs as an inherent part of practice

“…They experience a growing complexity in the tasks and responsibilities they face, which also includes engaging in new activities at different levels of the institution (Solbrekke, Sugrue, & Sutphen, 2020;Sugrue et al, 2018). Solbrekke and Fremstad (2018) highlight a related aspect of the ADs' practices: leadership expectations of the ADs' contribution in the institution can be seen as the institutional leaderships' trust in the ADs, which results in greater influence on the institutional level. Meanwhile, the collegial relationships and trust between ADs and academic staff may as a consequence weaken (Solbrekke & Fremstad, 2018, p. 241).…”

“…As already stated, the ADs increasingly collaborate with a range of different actors and on different levels of the institution. When conceptualising the ADs in Wenger's social learning theory, the ADs can be described as brokers who translate and negotiate higher education pedagogy into other parts of the organisation by working in the boundaries between different communities (Solbrekke & Fremstad, 2018;Wenger, 1998, p. 109). These interactions are called boundary interactions (Wenger, 1998, p. 112).…”

“…Following the example given by Solbrekke and Fremstad (2018), the growing complexity in tasks and responsibilities makes it increasingly challenging to navigate this balancing act. However, as also implied by Solbrekke and Fremstad (2018) and proposed by Wenger (1998), trade-offs are an inherent aspect of practice.…”