Change in University Pedagogical Culture – The Impact of Increased Pedagogical Training on First Teaching Experiences

Mari Murtonen, Henna Vilppu

Abstract


This study aims to explore whether the increase in pedagogical training has had any effect on new teachers’ experiences. We consider first teaching experiences to be crucial for a teacher’s career and the development of the environment’s pedagogical culture. We hypothesised that even if new faculty begin their teaching career without any formal pedagogical training, due to the changed pedagogical culture within faculties, they receive more support from their colleagues than their peers did 10 or 20 years ago. In this study, teachers with different amounts of teaching experience were asked to describe their first teaching experiences to get an overall picture of topical issues (Study A). Then, a larger sample was collected to shed more light on the assumed change in teaching cultures (Study B). According to the results, the majority (63.6%) of novice teachers with 0 to 4 years of teaching experience did not have pedagogical training. However, the amount of aid that novice teachers received from their colleagues was higher among those who had recently begun their careers compared to more experienced teachers, suggesting a change in teaching cultures. Novice teachers’ experience that teaching interferes with their research indicates that the changes in pedagogical culture are only partial, leaving the professional identity underdeveloped.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20


Keywords


new faculty; early-career academics; pedagogical training; pedagogical culture; professional identity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ã…kerlind, G., & McAlpine, L. (2010). Becoming an academic: International perspectives. Hampshire, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Alpay, E., & Verschoor, R. (2014) The teaching researcher: Faculty attitudes towards the teaching and research roles. European Journal of Engineering Education, 39(4), 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.895702

Ambrose, S., Huston, T., & Norman, M. (2005). A qualitative method for assessing faculty satisfaction. Research in Higher Education, 46, 803–830. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-6226-6

Becher, T., & Trowler, P. R. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines. Philadelphia, PA: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Beijaard, D. (2019). Teacher learning as identity learning: models, practices, and topics. Teachers and Teaching, 25(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2019.1542871

Boice, R. (1991). New faculty as teachers. Journal of Higher Education, 62(2), 150–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1991.11774113

Brownell, S., & Tanner, K. (2012). Barriers to faculty pedagogical change: Lack of training, time, incentives, and tensions with professional identity. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 11, 339–346. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.12-09-0163

Chalmers, D., & Gardiner, D. (2015). An evaluation framework for identifying the effectiveness and impact of academic teacher development programmes. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 46, 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2015.02.002

Cipriano, R. E., & Buller, J. L. (2012). Rating faculty collegiality. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 44(2), 45–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2012.655219

Clarke, C., & Reid, J. (2013). Foundational academic development: Building collegiality across divides? International Journal for Academic Development, 18, 318–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2012.728529

Cross, J. G., & Goldenberg, E. N. (2009). Off-track profs.: Nontenured teachers in higher education. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

European Commission. (2016). 941 final. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Improving and Modernising Education. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

Fanghanel, J., & Trowler, P. (2008). Exploring academic identities and practices in a competitive enhancement context: a UK-based case study. European Journal of Education, 43, 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3435.2008.00356.x

Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. (2019). The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland [pdf-file]. Retrieved from: https://www.tenk.fi/en/tenk-guidelines

Gibbs, G., & Coffey, M. (2004). The impact of training of university teachers on their teaching skills, their approach to teaching and the approach to learning of their students. Active Learning in Higher Education, 5(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787404040463

Gillespie, K. J., & Robertson, D. L. (2010). A guide to faculty development (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hanbury, A., Prosser, M., & Rickinson, M. (2008). The differential impact of UK accredited teaching development programmes on academics’ approaches to teaching. Studies in Higher Education, 33, 469–483. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802211844

Hollywood, A., McCarthy, D., Spencely, C., & Winstone, N. (2019). ‘Overwhelmed at first’: the experience of career development in early career academics. Journal of Further and Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2019.1636213

Jääskelä, P., Häkkinen, P., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2017). Supporting and constraining factors in the development of university teaching experienced by teachers. Teaching in Higher Education. Critical Perspectives, 22(6), 655–671. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273206

Johnson, B. (2001). Toward a new classification of nonexperimental quantitative research. Educational Researcher, 30(2), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X030002003

Kane, R., Sandretto, S., & Heath, C. (2002). Telling half the story: A critical review of the research on the teaching beliefs and practices of university academics. Review of Educational Research, 72(2), 177–228. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543072002177

Knight, P. (2002). Being a teacher in higher education. Maidenhead, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lindblomâ€Ylänne, S., Trigwell, K., Nevgi, A., & Ashwin, P. (2006). How approaches to teaching are affected by discipline and teaching context. Studies in Higher Education, 31, 285–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600680539

Murtonen, M., & Ponsiluoma, H. (2014). Yliopistojemme tarjoamien yliopistopedagogisten opintojen historia ja nykyhetki [The history and presence of the university pedagogical courses in Finnish universities]. Journal of University Pedagogy, 21(1), 7–9.

Naylor, N., Baik, C., & Arkoudis, S. (2018) Identifying attrition risk based on the first year experience. Higher Education Research & Development, 37, 328–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1370438

Oleson, A., & Hora, M. T. (2014). Teaching the way they were taught? Revisiting the sources of teaching knowledge and the role of prior experience in shaping faculty teaching practices. Higher Education, 68, 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9678-9

Remmik, M., Karm, M., Haamer, A., & Lepp, L. (2011). Early-career academics’ learning in academic communities. International Journal for Academic Development, 16, 187–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2011.596702

Remmik, M., Karm, M., & Lepp, L. (2013). Learning and developing as a university teacher: Narratives of early career academics in Estonia. European Educational Research Journal, 12, 330–341. https://doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2013.12.3.330

Robertson, J. (2007). Beyond the ‘research/teaching nexus’: Exploring the complexity of academic experience. Studies in Higher Education, 32, 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070701476043

Rodriguez, F., & Mogarro, M.J. (2019). Student teachers’ professional identity: A review of research contributions. Educational Research Review, 28, 100286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100286

Simons, M. (2006). ‘Education through research’ at European universities: Notes on the orientation of academic research. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 40(1), 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2006.00493.x

Simons, M., & Elen, J. (2007). The ‘research–teaching nexus’ and ‘education through research’: An exploration of ambivalences. Studies in Higher Education, 32, 617–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070701573781

Sorcinelli, M. D. (1988). Satisfactions and concerns of new university teachers. To Improve the Academy, 7(1), 121–133. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2334-4822.1988.tb00133.x

Stupnisky, R. H., Weaver-Hightower, M. B., & Kartoshkina, Y. (2015). Exploring and testing the predictors of new faculty success: A mixed methods study. Studies in Higher Education, 40, 368–390. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.842220

Van Eekelen, I. M., Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Vermunt, J. D. (2005). Self-regulation in higher education teacher learning. Higher Education, 50, 447–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6362-0

Vermunt, J. D., Vrikki, M., Warwick, P., & Mercer, N. (2017). Connecting teacher identity formation to patterns in teacher learning. In D. J. Clandinin & J. Husu (Eds.), The Sage handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 143–159). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.

Wosnitza, M., Helker, K., & Lohbeck, L. (2014). Teaching goals of early career university teachers in Germany. International Journal of Educational Research, 65, 90–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.09.009


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493