This document proposes research into how to promote quality teaching and learning through enhancing academics as teachers in private higher education. The research would define the context of teacher-practitioners and identify a framework for their experiences. It would evaluate teacher-practitioners' teaching and learning methods alongside best practices through focus groups and interviews. The research could later evolve into an action research study looking at the impact of a teacher enhancement program on teaching and learning experiences, including those of teacher-practitioners. The goal is to better support teacher-practitioners and integrate their professional practice with pedagogy.

1. Promoting Quality Learning
through Enhancing Academics as
Teachers
For the
S DALLA PRIA - PRACTITIONER

2. RESEARCH QUESTION
How can we promote quality teaching and
learning practices through the enhancement
of academics* as teachers?
*within the context of the ‘academic’ as teacher-practitioner

3. BACKGROUND
Private Higher Education Space – less emphasis on research; more
emphasis on teaching utility
Quality Enhancement Process focus on teaching, learning &
assessment strategies, but also on intellectual development in
pedagogic discourse
Understated role of teacher-practitioner: emphasis on practitioner as
‘industry’ conduit
Adopt WIL – Work-Integrated-Learning conceptual framework for T, L &
A practices: outcomes focused on vocational/professional competency
Especially relevant for media, considered 4th generation professions
(more context-specific; non-canonical) and craft-based specialisations

4. THE TEACHER-PRACTITIONER
Embodies the WIL framework by bringing world-of-work
experience into the classroom with tenuous knowledge
foundations
Teach from professional knowledge and experience/
industry-based practice
Inspires through example
Should (in theory) facilitate learning / rather than “lecturing”,
i.e. traditional pedagogic practice & linear knowledge
transfer

5. RATIONALE
To conduct exploratory research that seeks to define context of the
teacher-practitioner within the particular institution
Towards an identification of a framework that models lived experience of
teacher-practitioners
Initiate (in a formalised structure) the reflective discussion between
teacher-practitioner and pedagogic practices
Find common ground between creative professional practice, student-
centred pedagogy and relationships between knowledge paradigms (of
teachers and students) and lived experience
Towards the design of a tool / programme that enables development of the
teacher-practitioner within an academic context
Towards a recognition of positive institutional policy influences that may
enable better teaching & learning practice

6. LITERATURE REVIEW
Badger & Sutherland (2004) – Lecturer’s perceptions of lecturers
The Purpose of Lecturers as understood by themselves (dependent on
context):
1. Real-time problem solving
2. Providing a conceptual framework (intro into ways of thinking)
3. Motivation
4. Critical thinking
5. Relationship with assessment
6. Sermonising (change behaviours and attitudes)
7. Emotional connection
8. Teaching needs specific to subject context
Are these criteria valid and to what extent?

7. LITERATURE REVIEW
Nicholls (2005) – New lecturers’ constructions of learning, teaching and research in higher education
Assumption: Assessment of quality teaching based on the quality of student
learning – no model of good teaching is offered
Research shows lecturers felt they needed development to some extent in
pedagogic practice
New lecturers struggle to make connections between knower and known; and
between teaching and learner
University ethos of research being more closely aligned scholarship and
extrinsic reward (implications for private higher ed?); research drives pedagogic
investigation
“Improved teaching will only occur if the new lecturer has the knowledge and
skills to reflect on his/her practice” (Nicholls, 2005: 623)

8. LITERATURE REVIEW
Clews (2010) – The Teacher-Practitioner: perspectives on professional development
The institutional impact on the practitioner appears greater than that of the
impact of professional creative practice on the teaching and learning (implies a
sustained and independently-fostered culture of teaching is required)
External locus of control vs. intrinsic/internal locus of control
Institutions rarely have specific policies or structures to advance T & L practice
beyond the functional role of ‘teacher’
Limited consideration of pedagogy and little understanding of the knowledge
transfer processes
Natural tension between professional creative practice and pedagogic process
(‘expert power’ overrides teaching discipline)
Ideal: Support teacher-practitioners to develop the tools and discourse to
advocate for their practice (within the academic context), and find ways to
connect and integrate their practice and teaching

9. LITERATURE REVIEW
Sadler (2012) – The challenges for new academics in adopting student-centred approaches to teaching
Educators need support at conceptual level to assist with the
understanding of epistemological basis of student-centred T & L
approaches (theoretical understanding of how students learn)
Educators require assistance to support them in imagining the subject
from the student’s perspective (pin-point the nature of the contexts –
academic, social, intellectual and emotional)
Peer support and interaction is highly valued

10. LITERATURE REVIEW
Van Den Bos & Brouwer (2014) – Learning to teach in higher education: how to link theory and practice
Teaching conceptions and teaching practice best developed
simultaneously
Induction programmes may lead to change at a conceptual level, but
not necessarily to changed educational practice
Social context of induction programmes is important: observing,
exchanging, comparing, feedback x peers
Programmes conducted in group-settings tend to produce better results

11. SUMMARY
The proposed research will define the contexts and outline the scope
of teacher-practitioners’ T & L experiences
Evaluate the lived experience, methods and of lecturers alongside best
practice recommendations (contextualised in the private higher ed
space)
Research Methodology – Largely qualitative, consisting of focus groups
and separate semi-structured interviews; coded themes to analyse
patterns
Possibly later evolving into action research looking at the impact of a
programme of teacher-enhancement on teaching and learning
(including the lived experience of teacher-practitioners) on a selected
sample of participants

12. REFERENCES
Badger, R. and Sutherland, P. 2004. ‘Lecturers’ perceptions of lectures’. Journal of
Further and Higher Education, 28(3): 277 – 289.
Clews, A. 2010. ‘The Teacher-Practitioner: perspectives on professional Development’.
Bath Spa University [PowerPoint presentation] 23rd March 2010.
Southampton.
Nicholls, G. 2005. ‘New lecturers’ construction of learning, teaching and research in
higher education’. Studies in Higher Education, 30(5): 611 – 625.
Sadler, I. 2012. ‘The challenges for new academics in adopting student-centred
approaches to teaching’. Studies in Higher Education, 37(6): 731 – 745.
Van den Bos, P. and Brouwer, J. 2014. ‘Learning to teach in higher education: how to
link theory and practice’. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(7): 772 – 786.

13. Thank you.
Q & A
With thanks to Fenella Somerville