ABSTRACT
In current circumstances it may seem strange to suggest a relationship between professional development and teaching excellence. It is unusual, for example, for professional development to have teaching excellence as a stated goal or for teaching excellence to pursue professional development in its service. What is more familiar is for professional development in higher education to be linked with competence in teaching and other job-related activities. The emergence of ‘academic practice’ courses in the UK in recent years is a good example of such a link. These courses aim to make new lecturers competent in three core ‘functional areas’: teaching, research and administration (for an interesting discussion of what constitutes ‘academic practice’ and tensions between different activities and roles, see Staniforth and Harland, 1999). In this chapter I provide a brief outline of how this current situation has
arisen. Much of the discussion focuses on the UK context although many of the issues are also pertinent to other countries. I begin by examining the traditional model of professionalism that underpinned the work of academics for much of the twentieth century. This model of professionalism viewed teaching excellence as an inevitable consequence of expert knowledge and the service ethic. In the light of social change, student expansion and the increasing epistemological and ontological insecurity of the university, this traditional professionalism began to be questioned. Teaching, in particular, came under attack, leading to calls for it to be ‘professionalized’. The critique of traditional teaching was epistemological, relational and political. With the state seeking to increase its return from higher education, ‘imposed’ professional development was introduced in the light of this critique, following recommendations made by the Dearing Report (NCIHE, 1997). After the Dearing Report, courses on teaching and learning for university
lecturers proliferated, becoming compulsory for entrants to the profession in many institutions. These courses, with their emphasis on competence and surface learning, are increasingly being standardized through
accreditation by the Higher Education Academy (previously by the ILTHE). The limitations of the competence approach are considered and alternative approaches to professional development explored. One of the key issues that emerges out of this exploration is the need to put the notion of professional back into professional development for teaching and learning. This is a form of development that takes the distinctive characteristics of professionals (knowledge, responsibility and autonomy) and interprets what they might imply for teaching and learning within the contemporary context. This is not a ‘return to tradition’ but a more robust and compelling response to the critique of traditional professionalism than that provided by imposed competence. In the final section of the chapter I forge a mutually enhancing relationship between professional development and teaching excellence that helps us move beyond our current fixation with competencebased models.
