Supporting Doctoral Students to Develop their Teaching Practice

Julie-Anne ReganKirsten Besemer

April 2008

Background• Impetus for change

– RDAP– HERA– Applications for the PG Certificate

• Concerns of PGRs and GTAs– Conflict of interest when supervisor also supporting teaching

practice– Lacking confidence and feeling insecure because no preparation

for teaching– A sense of great responsibility for the learning experience of

undergraduate students they are teaching– No formal recognition of their teaching experience- employability

• The support framework – see handout

Action Learning Groups• Action Learning Groups

– Proven to be an effective approach to professional development

– Facilitated by an academic development specialist

– The role of the facilitator– Managing an ALG– A vehicle for promoting the Professional

Standards Framework and the individual recognition scheme of the Higher Education Academy

Participating in an ALG

• Starting teaching without support– Time consuming – Reinventing the wheel

• Advantages of the ALG– Group support – PhD can be a lonely path– Exchanging information and encouragement– Results are immediate: How the action

learning group helped me make my teaching more interactive

Effects of the ALG

• Professional Development and recognition by the HEA

• Changing the way I think about my teaching– From financial need to professional practice

• Generic PGR training versus Action Learning– Starting from our learning needs

Conclusion• Evaluations so far

– Confidence building– Directly related to practical issues– Possibly more attractive in disciplines where a

cohesive community of research students does not already exist

– A useful compromise to the PG Cert but not a replacement

Take home messages

• ALGs can provide an effective forum for developing early academics

• Appropriate facilitation is an essential feature

• Formal recognition of teaching practice is viewed as career enhancing by early academics