ABSTRACT
As lecturers in colleges and universities, we take decisions as a matter of course, yet we are not always aware of their basis. It is only when our expectations are confounded, that we might contemplate how we know that our decisions are the right ones or indeed, what kind of knowledge we draw on in order to justify our approaches. Theories guide our practice, even if we are imperfectly aware of them: sometimes they are adequate, sometimes they are inadequate. We teach in a time when the demands on, and expectations of, college and university lecturers are becoming more demanding, and in ways that we may not all find congenial. Change stimulates responses; and intelligent responses, it is the argument of this book, require careful reflection based wherever possible on available evidence and on a form of inquiry which is often called practitioner research. Many recent changes have introduced measures of accountability, providing
the policy ‘drivers’ for a nationally assured and accredited schemes of professional training and development for lecturers in colleges and higher education. The Education Reform Act, in 2004, introduced the National Student Survey (2004-9) in order to allow prospective students to compare recently graduated students’ views of comparable degree courses at different universities. These measures were no doubt prompted by the introduction of student fees and a concomitant concern that students should be assured of the satisfactory quality of the teaching on offer. The complexity of the challenges facing lecturers, and the tightening of account-
ability measures, make an engagement with the development of one’s professional role imperative. Not all lecturers will choose to make a career in higher education pedagogy, but all will be expected to reach certain standards of professionalism and to know how to go about using and engaging with pedagogical and professional research evidence, in order to develop their expertise. The Higher Education Academy has produced a set of standards for the use of
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in designing their own programmes of professional training and development. They describe what the professional challenges are, or ought to be, starting with the inexperienced member of staff and ending with the very experienced lecturer. The standard descriptors are set out
below with the activities, knowledge and values that together comprise the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education (HEA 2004). The Framework provides common guidance across universities for the content of courses for all staff engaged in supporting the learning of students in higher education, and represents a succinct summary of what is currently expected of lecturers and others who support student learning, in their professional capacity.
