Faculty Development as an Authentic Professional Practice February 20, 2018 By Catherine Haras Read Time Strada Article Adult Learners Employers ... Editor’s Note: This post originally was published on the American Council on Education’s Higher Education Today blog. ACE released the piece as part of a collaboration between ACE and Strada Education NetworkSM to examine higher education instruction and assess the connection between quality teaching and an improved student experience — which may lead to increased retention, persistence and success rates. The need for continual learning is a given in most professions. Architects, doctors, engineers and teachers are expected to keep up with current practice, for their careers as well as for their clients, patients and students. By contrast, professional development (PD) within higher education is confounding. Most literature on professional development is housed in teaching journals (followed by health, business, social sciences and the sciences), yet curiously, academic professional development is regarded as supplementary. Faculty tend to equate continuing learning with research in the discipline, not teaching. For most college instructors, regular participation in their teaching development is neither a workplace expectation nor a professional obligation. And while faculty welcome learning opportunities, we do not always agree on what PD is or how it should be offered. Many PD practices — regardless of profession — focus on delivering information rather than creating conditions for learning that professionals would find relevant or useful. For example, training programs are arguably ineffective if they do not result in changes to professional practice. Thinking about the kinds of PD that contribute to career growth raises the question: How do professionals continue to learn? Incredibly, this topic is not yet well understood. Despite decades of theory and research on cognition and adult learning, there is still a need to understand how professionals, in this case faculty, keep learning — changing — throughout their careers. The case has recently been made that faculty who regularly participate in professional development improve their students’ chances for success. The Tracer Project, a joint study between Carleton College and Washington State University, found that faculty development is an effective professional practice. But how does teaching practice change over the arc of one’s professional life? Are faculty changed by their teaching? How? And how is teaching identity constructed over the course of a career, in the workplace, or in relation to multiple workplaces — the lived reality of contingent faculty, now the majority of college instructors teaching in the United States? Faculty are by definition experts. All experts construct and assimilate new information within the context of existing practice. Experts, unlike novices, are also autonomous in their learning. Meanwhile, traditional PD literature has tended to focus on faculty as in some ways remedial, in need of improvement, rather than as experts engaged in self-directed learning. It has been argued that much professional development is training in disguise. College faculty sense and resist such deficit philosophical assumptions about their own learning, and, by extension their qualifications and abilities. . . . Despite decades of theory and research on cognition, there is still a need to understand how professionals, in this case faculty, keep learning – changing – throughout their careers. . . . The way that PD is conceptualized in both research and practice has been the subject of criticism over the past decades. Literature had tended to separate professionals from the learning context. However, meaningful faculty professional development occurs in situ: in the classroom, on campus(es), and with professional affiliations and organizations. These environments together influence and help faculty construct personal meaning and identity and cannot be separated from practice. Most faculty learn to teach outside of PD opportunities, informally, from colleagues and mentors. Faculty development should respect these contexts and factor them into programming. A lot of PD can mirror teaching, devoted to content, not practice — to what is taught, and not how it is taught. PD often relies on the workshop model, demonstrated to be ineffective. The implication is that knowledge about teaching and learning can be acquired through transfer and is primarily cognitive. One researcher calls the PD process “topping off,” as if all faculty come ready to teach and are in need of only occasional refreshment rather than continuous practice associated with mastery in any field. This version of educational development is divorced from what we know about experts as constructivists, and from the active role that skills and attitudes play in shaping teaching. It turns out that the lived experience of the faculty truly matters. Skills and attitudes about teaching matter. Good professional learning captures these dynamics. It may be helpful to think about embedding faculty development within what Ann Webster-Wright calls “authentic professional learning.” Practice here refers to repeated exercise and actual application. It is authentic in that faculty put into practice what they are learning in the place where they exercise their expertise: in the classroom, clinic, studio or lab. Scaffolded faculty development is one way to achieve such authentic professional practice. Scaffolded PD is ongoing and features regular practice and demonstration in the workplace. It may constitute sub-practices, including long programming, building communities or cohorts of faculty, and coaching and informal peer observation of teaching practice. Scaffolding PD acknowledges that professional learning about teaching is a process, a commitment, and a way of thinking that takes time, thought and work. The following are some current examples of scaffolded faculty development: Stanford Faculty Development Center for Medical Teachers’ Clinical Teaching Program. This one-month training provides participants with seminar leadership skills required to deliver a series of seven, two-hour seminars to colleagues and residents, while practicing their teaching. Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning Transforming STEM Teaching Faculty Learning Program, a blended professional learning program. Instructors first participate in a series of synchronous, interactive online workshops offered every two weeks, as well as reflective discussions. Synchronous sessions guide faculty through the process of redefining their role as instructor in their college courses, as they develop deeper understanding of how learning happens and how to support learning. Members participate in peer observations to provide/receive feedback on their teaching. Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) or mentoring networks where faculty informally observe each other in the classroom and practice their teaching together. The University of Georgia Center for Teaching and Learning UGA Fellows for Innovative Teaching FLC themes FLC programming to align with a university initiative (SCALE-UP in 2016, challenging gateway courses in 2017). For the 2017 cohort, UGA required each FLC fellow to receive two classroom observations over the semester, one performed by a peer fellow and one by a CTL assistant director. Certificates in college teaching for graduate students/TAs that also require a teaching visit, peer observation and feedback, such as Duke University’s Certificate in College Teaching. Duke employs “teaching triangles” where instructors observe other instructors and must also be observed. Emerging andragogic models where faculty follow a repeating pattern of observation, critique, practice and reflection. At California State University, Los Angeles, our Center for Effective Teaching and Learning convenes a community of 25 faculty each semester who observe/critique via ACUE online modules, eventually record themselves in the classroom, debrief, and continuously reflect/act on the process with peer mentors. CETL staff continue to follow up with participants through community gatherings and informal consultations. The Academy of Inquiry-Based Learning (AIBL), a community of college math instructors, math teachers, and supporters of inquiry-based learning (IBL), broadly defined. AIBL supports instructors interested in teaching IBL courses. Most of the scaffolded PD programs referenced above share the following dynamics: They are constructivist, experiential, and avoid lecturing. They are programmatic and longitudinal, absorbing the workshop model into a series of rich, related experiences. They are iterative and set an expectation of practice for participants. They track with faculty and, critically, follow up after programming has finished, checking in as needed. They create communities of faculty who can coach and mentor one another. They center faculty development in the workplace, where faculty are, and where they struggle. They ask faculty to routinely reflect, a metacognitive practice that allows for deepening self-awareness and goal-setting, preconditions for improved practice. They are personally meaningful and responsive to faculty need. They require teaching and learning centers to provide a safe space along with thoughtfully sequenced programming. Faculty developers serve as facilitators only, and provide neutral space to take small risks and make changes. Scaffolded professional development provides a supportive learning environment that grows an appreciation for the subtle art of teaching well. Faculty developers can construct profound professional learning experiences with and for their colleagues. Administrators should plan for adequate allocation of resources and support the heavy lifting that teaching and learning centers will be asked to perform to create and sustain such intensive experiences. Deans, in particular, should be active sponsors of and knowledgeable about best practices in teaching. PD should be a line item in any campus budget. Group 13 Group 11 Group 12 To create a PDF of the webpage, choose in opened window 'Save as PDF' option in 'Destination' select or something like that and click to save or print button. Got it Catherine Haras Senior Director, Center for Effective Teaching and Learning California State University, Los Angeles Learn More In the news from Strada May 13, 2022 Examples From the Field: University of Minnesota Rochester At the innovative Rochester campus of the University of Minnesota, our vision is to “inspire transformation in higher education through innovations that empower graduates to solve the grand health challenges of the 21st century.” Strada Article BCC May 13, 2022 Examples From the Field: University of Oregon Ducks Rise: Empowering Underrepresented Minorities and Low-Income Students Through Research Internships and Intentional Student Experiences Strada Article BCC May 13, 2022 Examples From the Field: University of Texas System Developing In-Demand Skills Among Undergraduates for Better, More Equitable Post Completion Outcomes Strada Article BCC May 13, 2022 Fulfilling the Promise of Higher Education Access to college isn't enough. Neither is completion of degrees. It's time to focus on outcomes Strada Article BCC April 7, 2022 ‘I Didn’t Know I Had All This in Me’ Credit for prior learning helped Loyce Shelley see herself in a new way — and complete her degree. Strada CAEL Article Adult Learners Career Connection Completion Employers Equity & Oppo... Navigating Education On Purpose Engagement & ... ... March 2, 2022 How Local Partners Can Rebuild the Workforce Equitably Even before the pandemic, employers struggled to find the skilled labor they needed to fill jobs. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... February 23, 2022 Growing Fairly: How to Build Opportunity and Equity in Workforce Development The labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed—their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills. Strada Article Innovation in Wor... Adult Learners Career Connection Equity & Oppo... Navigating Education ... February 1, 2022 How Credentials Can Create Opportunity for More People The origin story of Grow With Google, like so many initiatives at the global technology company, begins with data. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Adult Learners Employers Nondegree On Purpose ... January 5, 2022 5 Ways To Integrate Career Connection Into College Experience Recent Strada research points to a striking disparity between first-year students’ aspirations for career planning in their undergraduate years and seniors’ actual experiences. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose Public Viewpoint Research ... December 2, 2021 4 Ways To Build Better Education-Workforce Partnerships More than 18 months into the pandemic, the employment headlines can seem like an algebraic riddle: If U.S. employers are seeking workers to fill 10.9 million jobs, how can 8.4 million workers be unemployed? Strada CAEL Article Connections to Ca... On Purpose ... November 17, 2021 How To Make Sure Education After High School Is Worth the Investment Economist Beth Akers insists she’s not a college debt crisis denier. College is expensive — more than double the cost today compared to the 1980s. And too many students pay too much for it, she said, not only in relation to what they can afford now, but also to what they will earn after graduation. Strada Article Degree and Creden... On Purpose ... November 4, 2021 How To Set Students Up for Success After Graduation As provost and later president at the University of Utah, Ruth Watkins called out the “hollow promise” a university delivers to college students who have access to higher education but leave without completing a degree. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... October 21, 2021 How To Better Serve Latino Students Deborah Santiago’s parents always made clear she and her three siblings would go to college. Strada Article Navigating Education Advising On Purpose Engagement & ... ... October 7, 2021 How the HBCU Experience Builds Leaders Roslyn Clark Artis grew up in southern West Virginia, the only African American in her graduating class. The daughter of a coal miner, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer and applied to every public university in her home state, hoping to find an affordable route to college. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... September 22, 2021 6 Ways Our Conversations Are Shaping What We Know Strada CAEL Inside Track Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... September 8, 2021 6 Ways to Upskill Women for In-Demand Jobs Strada CAEL Inside Track Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose Technology ... August 25, 2021 How To Connect 2-Year Students to a 4-Year School — and a Career Nationwide, about 80 percent of students enrolling in community college say they intend to continue at a four-year college or university to earn a bachelor’s degree. But only 15 percent of community college students achieve that goal within six years. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... August 12, 2021 3 Ways New Philanthropy Models Help More People Faster Strada Article Degree and Creden... On Purpose ... July 29, 2021 Things To Know Now About the Future of Nondegree Credentials Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Employers On Purpose ... July 14, 2021 How Student Supports Can Reverse Enrollment Declines Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... June 22, 2021 ‘Concerned, Worried, and Anxious’ — Insights From Recent High School Grads Strada Article Navigating Education Advising On Purpose ... June 8, 2021 What Will Reconnect Disrupted Learners to Education? Strada Article Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising On Purpose ... May 26, 2021 How Community Colleges Can Lead Our Economic Recovery Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... May 11, 2021 Mentoring, Networking, Scholarships — How This Program Pulls Them Together Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... April 27, 2021 How Work Changed for Good in 2020, According to Employers Recruiting, hiring, and training improvements are here to stay, employer survey says Strada Article Connections to Ca... Employers On Purpose ... April 14, 2021 Innovator Spotlight: Project Basta This career exploration and readiness program’s formula for learner success combines social capital, self-discovery to launch career pathways for first-gen grads Strada Article Measuring the Val... Pathways with Pur... Career Connection Completion Navigating Education Spotlight Institute for the... ... April 13, 2021 How To Improve Value of Higher Ed? Increase Career Support Just half of college alumni feel it was worth it to take out loans to attend college, with even lower levels of satisfaction from Black and Latino alumni about their loans. Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... April 1, 2021 Powering Purpose Invest now in community colleges to fuel economic opportunity Strada Article Serving the Adult... Adult Learners Institute for the... ... March 31, 2021 Ready for Work? How To Prep New Grads for Tech Jobs Talent Path’s Learn-and-Earn Model Bridges Skills Gap Between College and Career Strada Article Connections to Ca... Degree and Creden... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ... March 16, 2021 How to Make Online Ed Work for Students Can the pandemic induce higher education to jump-start the future of learning? Strada Article Connections to Ca... Navigating Education Advising Employers On Purpose ...