'An investigation into the dialectic of Academic Teaching Identity: Some preliminary findings'
Presenters: Paul Gibbs, Carole Davis, Agi Ryder, Gillian Lazar, Sara Cannizzaro (School of Health & Education)
The development of teaching excellence among lecturers in higher education goes beyond acquiring technical skills; it extends to the formation of lecturers’ identity. This presentation reports on a project which explores the development of this identity in order to improve the co-production of learning between lecturers and their students.
Outline: Within UK Higher Education the professionalization of university teaching has become increasingly significant with regards to its perceived role in improving student engagement (Nyamapfene, 2014) as well as aligning with recent government proposals regarding the Teaching Excellence Framework. Yet developing teaching excellence in higher education goes beyond acquiring the technical capacities needed to perform an occupation effectively. It extends to the formation of lecturers’ identities, an area which is somewhat contested in current thinking. Trede, Mackin and Bridges (2011), for example, argue that academic identify develops when there is an alignment with a professional attitudes, while Nevgi and Löfström (2015) found that a teacher identity was a function of a dynamic interaction between reflection on teaching practice and deepening knowledge of theoretical pedagogical constructs. However, there remains little agreement on a framework for understanding the development of this professional teaching identity.
This presentation reports on a project which aims to explore the development of the pedagogic identity of the participants on the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PG Cert HE). PG Cert HEs represent a significant investment of time for new academics (Smith 2010). Those on the programme are simultaneously students and teachers, which offers a unique insight into the formation and co-production of academic identity. They all teach on a variety of courses representing a wide range of disciplines. The research seeks to explore how these course participants construct and transform their professional academic identity over time.
We will begin our presentation by providing a brief overview of the project, followed by a consideration of some preliminary findings. Taking a temporal auto-biographical approach, we analyse some of the blogposts from some participants on the PG Cert HE. The blogposts provide a written account of their changing views, and record significant events and relevant critical incidents. Such research requires the text to open and present themes, and is analysed using a critical hermeneutic interpretation enabling regularities and patterns to emerge (Steinberg 2006).
The practical consequences of the research have the potential to offer insights to help enhance teaching excellence, and assist in the development of an academic teaching identify for staff through the development of a theoretical framework. This framework would facilitate the understanding of the nuances involved in the formation of academic teacher identity and, in so doing, will contribute to the implementation of government teaching excellence and the University’s own strategy. (393 words)
Please specify the details of your session/poster and how it links to the overall theme of the conference theme and chosen strand: Links with teaching excellence strand.
References:
Nevgi, A and Löfström, E. (2015) The development of academics’ teacher identity: Enhancing reflection and task perception through a university teacher development programme, Studies in Educational Evaluation, 46, 53-60.
Nyamapfene, A (2014) The teaching-only academic role in research intensive universities: a case of spoiled identity? https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/stem-conference-2014/Post_event_resources/GEN/teaching-only_academic (accessed 12.9.2015)
Smith, J. (2010) Forging identities: the experiences of probationary lecturers in the UK, Studies in Higher Education, 35:5, 577-591
Steinberg, S. (2006). Critical cultural studies research: Bricolage in action. In K. Tobin and J. Kincheloe (eds.), Doing educational research: A handbook (pp. 119-132). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Trede, F, Macklin, R and Bridges (2011) Professional identity development: a review of the higher education literature, Studies in Higher Education, 37:3, 365-384
Keywords: teaching excellence, academic teaching identity, identity formation, PG Cert HE
Session learning outcomes: consideration of preliminary findings as to how lecturer teaching identity develops during a Post-graduate Certificate in HE. Consideration of how the development of this teaching identity might inform initiatives to improve teaching excellence
