Academic development needs of part-time teachers in higher education: are they being met?

Part-time teachers are a diverse group, and one that is increasing as employment patterns change across higher education. in the UK, the Higher Education Statistics Agency reported 35% of staff categorised as part-time teachers in 2009/10 (www.hesa.ac.uk). These individuals are often under-supported in their teaching, with no systematic access to training or development (Beaton & Gilbert, 2012). Professional development within the Academy is often aimed at early career academics, and though foci may include developing as a researcher and other academic skills, the emphasis is often specifically on learning to teach. Teaching in HE has come under increasing amounts of scrutiny since the late 1990s, in part due to the consumerisation of HE (Williams, 2013), and the significant increase of part-time teachers including postgraduates who teach (Bleakley, 1999). The experience of post-graduates who teach differs widely between institutions and departments (NUS, 2012). On-going concerns about the quality of teaching and learning and support available for lecturers in HE have led to a review of the impact of teaching development programmes in HE (Parsons, Hill, Holland & Willis, 2012) and a call for mandatory teaching certificates from an EU high-level group set up last year to examine the modernisation