Changing teaching practice: the evolving purpose of the teacher in higher education
Article
Gonzalez, Prue, Mueller, Beate, Merry, Kevin, Jones, Colin and Kelder, Jo-Anne. 2021. "Changing teaching practice: the evolving purpose of the teacher in higher education." Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice. 18 (6), pp. 1-11.
| Article Title | Changing teaching practice: the evolving purpose of the teacher in higher education |
|---|---|
| ERA Journal ID | 20366 |
| Article Category | Article |
| Authors | Gonzalez, Prue, Mueller, Beate, Merry, Kevin, Jones, Colin and Kelder, Jo-Anne |
| Journal Title | Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice |
| Journal Citation | 18 (6), pp. 1-11 |
| Number of Pages | 11 |
| Year | 2021 |
| Publisher | University of Wollongong |
| Place of Publication | Australia |
| ISSN | 1449-9789 |
| Web Address (URL) | https://open-publishing.org/journals/index.php/jutlp/article/view/502 |
| Abstract | In this Editorial, we take the opportunity to expand on the second Journal of University Teaching and Learning theme, Developing Teaching Practice. Building on Editorial 18(4), which articulated changes to higher education in the period roughly between 1980 and 2021, we believe it is pertinent to explore the changing conceptions of academic as ‘teacher’. We use Engeström’s cultural-historical activity theory as a lens to consider how higher education teachers are situated in the current context of rapid changes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore possible future purposes of higher education to consider flow-on impacts on the purpose of its teachers and how their roles might change to accommodate future expectations. We assert the need to challenge the notion of the academic as a person who is recruited into higher education largely because of their subject matter expertise while maintaining strong commitment to teaching expertise that is grounded in scholarship, critical self-reflection, and agency. In our various teaching and leadership roles, and consistent with the literature, we have observed paradoxical outcomes from the nexus between risk, innovation and development, driving risk aversity and risk management, with significant (contradictory) impacts on teaching, teachers and student learning. The barriers to implementing innovative curricula include questions of do students get a standardised and ‘safe’ educational experience or are they challenged and afforded the opportunity to transform and grow? Are they allowed to fail? Related, do teachers have genuine agency, as an educator, or are they positioned as agents of a higher education system? We explore these questions and invite our readers to engage in serious reflexivity and identify strategies that help them question their attitudes, thought processes, and assumptions about teaching and student learning. We welcome papers that contribute values-based conversations and explore ways of dealing with and adapting to change in our teaching practices, case studies of learning through failure, change and adaptation and the development of the field. |
| Keywords | academic development; Teaching practice; activity theory |
| Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
| ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 390303. Higher education |
| Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
| Byline Affiliations | Charles Sturt University |
| University of Technology Sydney | |
| De Montfort University, United Kingdom | |
| University of Southern Queensland | |
| University of Tasmania |
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