on becoming an academic developer: a personal journey

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This article was downloaded by: [University of Otago] On: 06 October 2014, At: 03:40 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK International Journal for Academic Development Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rija20 On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey Lorraine Stefani a a Centre for Academic Practice , University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, UK Published online: 09 Jul 2006. To cite this article: Lorraine Stefani (1999) On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey, International Journal for Academic Development, 4:2, 102-110 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360144990040204 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey

This article was downloaded by: [University of Otago]On: 06 October 2014, At: 03:40Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office:Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal for AcademicDevelopmentPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscriptioninformation:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rija20

On becoming an academic developer: Apersonal journeyLorraine Stefani aa Centre for Academic Practice , University of Strathclyde , Glasgow,UKPublished online: 09 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Lorraine Stefani (1999) On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey,International Journal for Academic Development, 4:2, 102-110

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360144990040204

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, ouragents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to theaccuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions andviews expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are notthe views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not berelied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylorand Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs,expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantialor systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply,or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of accessand use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey

On becoming an academic

developer: A personal journey

Lorraine Stefani, Centre forAcademic Practice, University ofStrathclyde, Glasgow, UK

ABSTRACTAcademic Development is a diverse and complex profession that is becoming an increasingly important aspect ofhigher education, albeit that in general terms it is not necessarily highly enough valued at institutional anddepartmental levels. To raise the profile of the profession it may be tempting to provide a narrow definition ofthe nature of Academic Development and the appropriate credentials of the 'Developers'. Such a move couldstifle the creativity and the diversity of skills that exist within the profession and that render it problematic todefine. However, to place value on our chosen field it is important for Developers to work towards a sharedconception of Academic Development as a unique profession. The intention of this paper is to contribute to thedialogue and discussion of this issue through critical reflection on my personal journey into this profession.While some of the issues raised by Andresen (1996) relating to the nature of Academic Development, pathwaysto credibility within the profession and issues relating to accredited programmes for Academic Developers areaddressed, it is important to state that this paper is limited to reflections on my own journey, which I consider tobe neither unique nor ordinary, into the profession.

IntroductionIn the first issue of IJAD, Lee Andresen (1996)posed several questions relating to the identity,professional credibility and knowledge base ofAcademic Developers. Andresen posed hisquestions as a challenge to us to consider thenature of the field of Academic Developmentrather than attempt to impose binding answersupon us. The purpose of this paper is to furtherstimulate the debate concerning the occupationalidentity of Academic Developers through a criticalexploration of my own journey into AcademicDevelopment. Through reflection on my ownapprenticeship and journey towards gainingexpertise and credibility as an AcademicDeveloper, I address a number of issues raised byAndresen including: 'how do people becomecredible skilled and competent AD workers?; fromwhere should Academic Developers be drawnand through what apprenticeship and or formalstudy should they proceed?; what is the place offormally accredited graduate programmes?; whatare the benefits as well as the possible dangers inmoves towards national accreditation?'. Much ofmy own experience highlights the potentiallycontentious nature of Academic Developmentas a profession and the perceived status of

academic developers depending on the location ofpractice.

In the light of valued comments on thestructure and content of this paper, it is importantto state that it is not based on conventionalresearch and development methodologies. Ratherit is an attempt to use exploration of self-experience in the context of an evolving professionas an alternative but valid research paradigm togain insights into the development of thatprofession. This alternative methodology willhopefully encourage further contributions to thechallenge set by Andresen for AcademicDevelopers to engage in critical discussion,dialogue and debate regarding our professionalidentity, occupational status and occupationalstandards.

Embarking on a journeyI can well remember my delight and enthusiasmon being appointed to the position of Lecturer inHuman Genetics in a traditional university. I washighly enthusiastic about my research field, Ifancied myself as a great lecturer who would berespected for her dedication to the enhancementof student learning. I was reasonably sure that I

The InternationalJournal for Academic Development ISSN 1360-144X © 1999 Taylor & Francis Ltd

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ON BECOMING AN ACADEMIC DEVELOPER 103

could fulfil the requirement to 'contribute towardsthe advancement of my subject, and to undertakesuch teaching, examining and administration inthe department as may be required by the Headof Department..." (QUB, 1984). Almost 10 yearslater my then Head of Department ratherominously hinted to me that I was unlikely toachieve promotion. To my mind I was areasonably successful scientific researcher, Icontributed to the Research Assessment Exerciseand I successfully supervised postgraduatestudents. I was positively evaluated as a teacherand I competently undertook the administrativetasks assigned to me. So why were my careerprospects so dismal?

Discussions with my Head of Departmentsuggested to me that I was being penalized becauseI had taken a strong interest in developinginnovative teaching strategies to enhance studentlearning. If I was not focusing so much attentionon this aspect of my job I could be an even betterresearcher - in the traditional disciplinary-basedsense — and so increase my chances of promotion.Although much of my early educationaldevelopment work was published in reputablejournals (eg Stefani, 1992; Stefani, 1994; Stefani etal., 1994) it was clear that such publications werenot considered of equal value to 'traditionalresearch publications'.

In 1994 I was successful in my application for aLectureship in Academic Practice at the Universityof Strathclyde. Interestingly my efforts to developteaching, learning and assessment practices withina disciplinary base had made a career changealmost a necessity if I was not to stand still for theremainder of my tenure. Within my new position,my duties according to the job specificationincluded: 'contributing to the design andprovision of workshops, seminars and otheractivities in connection with the staff developmentprogramme and other educational initiatives,particularly in relation to curriculumdevelopment, methods of teaching, the use of newtechnologies and the promotion and evaluation ofindependent learning and methods of studentprofiling.' A further expectation was that I 'wouldpursue applied research and contribute toscholarship in areas of activity relevant to themain functions of the unit' (University ofStrathclyde, 1994).

It was curious to me that my knowledge,understanding, experience and scholarship withrespect to educational development were so highlyvalued at the institutional level at the University of

Strathclyde whereas the same attributes were highlyundervalued at disciplinary and departmental levelat the Queen's University of Belfast. Therein,however may lie one of the major tensionsregarding the location and perceived status ofeducational/academic development staff.Disciplinary-based academic staff (understandably)are protective of their 'traditional research base'and value their relatively autonomous position. AsBecher contends, 'academic staff organize theirprofessional lives according to the disciplinarybased intellectual tasks on which they are engaged'(Becher, 1989). Academics seem to becomeidentified and identifiable by their disciplinary tag(Jenkins, 1996). Staff engaged in academicdevelopment tasks on the other hand may welloccupy a locus within institutional central servicesand be perceived as spreading our tentacles intotribally owned territory with the aim of usurpingacademic autonomy as Andresen hints (Andresen,1996). It is interesting to affirm that when basedwithin my discipline many colleagues feared thatmy educational development activities wouldthreaten the traditional research base if too manypeople became interested!

A pathway to Academic DevelopmentWhen I first took up a lectureship it was assumed Icould lecture, run tutorials and organize practicalclasses as though these skills were inherent inpeople who chose academia as a career option.Although there was a compulsory induction coursefor new lecturers, the focus was on the mechanicsof teaching and what type of visual aids one mightuse, with no mention of pedagogies, learning styles,active learning, curriculum development or thecomplexities of dealing with large classes anddiverse student groups. In fact I had never heard ofmany of these terms until the advent of the UnitedKingdom Enterprise in Higher Education initiative(UKEHE).

The Enterprise in Higher Education initiativewas a government-funded initiative to encouragegreater links between university education and theworld of work. The ethos of the initiative (TrainingAgency, 1989) was that:

• Learning should become increasingly student-centred and related to individual needs.

• Learning methods should become more activitybased and flexible.

• An increasing level of integration between

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education and vocational training would beencouraged.

• Higher Education should become more closelylinked with the world of work.

• Skills and qualifications should be more closelyrelated and more transferable.

Different universities accommodated the EHEinitiative in different ways. At Queen's University,Belfast (QUB) the initiative was essentially led bydisciplinary-based teaching and learningenthusiasts who took the risk of diverting theirenergies towards enhancement of the teaching andlearning environment. For the first time anyonecould remember, special funding was available forteaching, learning and assessment projects, albeitaccording to a government prescribed agenda. Theenthusiasts could apply for project grants to designand implement innovative teaching and assessmentstrategies at a disciplinary level. Departments werein general delighted to have access to the extrafunding and thus some leeway was granted toindividuals to implement small but generallysignificant changes regarding the design anddelivery of course materials.

The available funding also allowed for thetraining of QUB staff, who were highly involved inthe EHE initiative. The 'enthusiasts' made gooduse of this funding by running training seminarsand inviting speakers who were not necessarilylabelled as academic/educational developers butwho had published their work on innovativeteaching and learning in educational journals. Asdisciplinary based lecturers most of us had noteven known of the existence of such a body ofresearch on teaching and learning. The trainingmoney was also used to run what we called'teaching and learning development' eventswhereby individuals would present theirdisciplinary based teaching innovations to amultidisciplinary group of academic staff. Ideaswere shared and innovations from one subject areawere adapted for other disciplines. This period ofhigh activity with respect to teaching, learning andassessment acted as the catalyst for my subsequentchange of career. The main focus group of theEHE initiative at QUB was called the LearningDevelopment Group and our main concern wasenhancing student learning by encouraging a morestudent-centred, active learning environment inwhich students would be given more credit for thelearning process as well as the learning product.Staff development as we understood it was not ourremit. A separate staff development unit was in

operation at the university. The EHE unit and thestaff development unit did collaborate but the EHE'enthusiasts' did not consider ourselves as staffdevelopers. Given this introduction into the field ofteaching and learning enhancement, I took therisk of focusing more on teaching and learningissues than on traditional disciplinary-basedresearch and thereby embarked on a pathway tobecoming an 'educational/academic developer'.

The EHE initiative had a high impact on manystaff across universities in the UK. I do not considermyself unique to have entered the field ofAcademic Development via this route but ratherpresent this individual case study as an example ofa pathway into Academic Development. Beinginvolved in the EHE initiative provided thispathway into educational/academic developmentalbeit for a relatively small number of staff.However there were many other government-funded initiatives that were running either inparallel with or followed the EHE initiative thatattracted disciplinary based academic staff intoAcademic Development. Examples of suchinitiatives include the Teaching and LearningTechnology Programme (TLTP), Teaching andLearning in Scottish Metropolitan Area NetworksInitiative (TALISMAN), the Learning TechnologyDissemination Initiative (LTDI) and the Fund forDevelopment of Teaching and Learning Initiative(FDTL). Most of these initiatives reflect themovement towards inclusion of Communicationsand Information Technology (C&IT) into highereducation teaching and learning. These routeshave widened the scope of Academic Developmentand have helped to create the diversity of skills andexperience that now exist under this umbrellaterm. Within the field this diversity should behighly encouraged. Academic Developmentinvolves a complex network of activities, whichnecessitates the sharing of multiple levels ofknowledge, skill and understanding.

The scope of academic practiceOn taking up my new position within the Centrefor Academic Practice at the University ofStrathclyde my expertise broadened considerably.The remit of the Centre which is a centrally fundeduniversity-wide service, includes: staff developmentin the form of workshops, seminars and coursesrelating to a range of teaching and learning issuesrelevant to both undergraduate and postgraduatestudents; training in the use of information

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technology in education, managing personal andprofessional development programmes;presentation of a PostgraduateCertificate/Diploma programme in AdvancedAcademic Studies for academic and related staff:student skills development in the form of studyskills induction programmes; workshops onthinking skills, writing, problem solving,presentation skills etc; and a series of workshopstargeted specifically to the needs of postgraduatestudents. A third strand of the work of the unitincludes designing and implementing techniquesfor the evaluation of teaching and learning;curriculum design and development, introducingteaching portfolios and working in partnershipwith departments to support the development ofteaching and assessment methods.

In taking up my new position I consideredmyself fortunate to have experienced the rigour ofworking within a discipline wherein researchactivity was both expected and held in high regard.It seemed a very obvious course of action for me topublish the work I had carried out on teaching andlearning developments. This included such work asthe design and delivery of innovative groupprojects (eg Stefani, 1992; Tariq, Stefani &Butcher, 1995) and the development andimplementation of peer and self-assessmentprocedures (eg Stefani, 1994; Butcher, Stefani &Tariq, 1995). I had extensive experience ofteaching large classes at disciplinary level; anunderstanding of the pressures on academic staffwithin disciplines; a respectable publication recordwithin my own discipline; and a good track recordof conference input and publications oneducational development. These attributes werecompatible with the expectations of me within mynew position in the broad field of academicdevelopment.

At the start of my career in the Centre forAcademic Practice I spent a high proportion of mytime working with large classes of students acrossthe science and engineering faculties in particular,transferring some of the innovations I hadintroduced when working within my disciplinarybase. There was a high emphasis on skillsdevelopment workshops contextualized todisciplinary based needs and on introducingstudents to the task and process elements of groupprojects and peer and self-assessment strategies.Prior to me taking up my position, there were noCAP staff members with the direct experience ofworking in a science and technology environment.My work with staff mainly involved generic

workshops and working on a consultancy basiswithin departments helping to create teaching andlearning partnerships between students and tutors.As new developments and possibilities becamepriorities in the evolving Higher Education agenda,so the Centre for Academic Practice responded todifferent challenges in accordance withinstitutional policy.

Prior to the Dealing Inquiry into HigherEducation in the UK (1997), staff members fromthe Centre for Academic Practice and the Facultyof Education at the University of Strathclydeworked as a team to develop a continuousprofessional development programme foracademic and related staff. This developmentpre-empted the recommendation of the DearingReport that teaching staff in Higher Educationshould be encouraged to pursue accredited coursesrelating to academic practice with an emphasis onenhancement of university teaching strategies. As amember of the team that developed the Universityof Strathclyde Certificate/Diploma Course inAdvanced Academic Studies this encouraged me toconsider my own credentials and credibility as anAcademic Developer given that I would be involvedas a facilitator on this course and to seek a route toaccreditation of my own practice.

Accreditation and credibilityIn seeking out a route to accreditation of my ownpractice there were a number of options open tome at the time. I could have pursued aqualification through the Faculty of Education atthe University of Strathclyde; I could pursue adistance learning accredited course or I couldconsider presenting a reflective portfoliodemonstrating my competence in staff andeducational development for the award of SEDAFellowship. From these options I was particularlyattracted to the postgraduate Diploma in HigherEducation Research and Development presentedby the Higher Education Research andDevelopment Unit at University College London.

The aims of this course are:

• to support participants in developing a reflectiveattitude towards their teaching with the ultimategoal of improving the student learningexperience; and

• to help course participants' abilities inconducting research and development inHigher Education.

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It is important to say that this postgraduatediploma course has recognition from SEDA, theprofessional association for staff and curriculumdevelopers in higher education. Consequently,holders of the Diploma are SEDA accreditedteachers. (HERDU Course Handbook, 1995)

With the shifting status of HE teaching I viewedthis as the provision of a creative pathway for mycontinuing professional development andcredibility within the broad field of HigherEducation Research and Development. The aims ofthe Dip HERD course suited my developmentalneeds at the time and I considered that pursuingthe course would provide for me an opportunity toreflect on my own work.

I took a long term view of the changes in HigherEducation, not just within the UK but also at amore global level and I wondered how long itwould be before accreditation of teaching activitiesbecame a requisite for teachers in HigherEducation. I wanted to understand the process ofpursuing a course based on reflecting on my ownpractice to gain an understanding of the pressures,the time commitment and assessment proceduresof an accredited course given that our own unitwould soon be offering an accreditationprogramme for academic and related staff. I wasattracted to the participant-centred nature of thecourse ie the framework is presented but there isample scope for individual creativity in shaping thecourse round one's own needs, interests etc.

It did not occur to me that there was anyincongruity in pursuing a postgraduate diplomacourse designed to 'engender a reflective attitudetowards my teaching with the ultimate aim ofimproving my student's learning experience' whileat the same time being employed as a lecturer inAcademic Practice. Given my own route intoAcademic Development, I took a very broad view ofthe term 'teaching' and preferred to redefine it asmeaning 'facilitation of active learning' and Ipreferred to think of the term 'student' as meaninglearner or course participant.

The Dip HERD is a modular course withcompulsory elements and optional modules. Thecompulsory elements include presenting areflective assignment on: conducting small scaleresearch into teaching and learning in highereducation, course design issues, studentassessment, and teaching and learning methods.The latter module also allowed for participants tomake a choice between: learning in large classes,learning in small groups, learning in practicalclasses, project work, essay writing or a particular

method as defined by the course participant. Thedefining module for the award of Diploma requiresthe completion of a reflective integrativeassignment drawing together the work of thepreceding modules into an underpinningtheoretical framework for teaching and learning.Optional modules include: developing studentautonomy; developing student's personal andprofessional skills; and course and programmedesign and evaluation.

The course operates on the basis of participantsmaking their module choices and developing alearning contract with a tutor. The assignments areto be based on one's own practice and arepresented to the tutor by an agreed deadline.Assessment is on a pass or fail basis withparticipants receiving constructive feedback. Inpursuing this course some of my moduleassignments are based on work carried out withstudents when I worked within my disciplinarybase. Some assignments are based on work withstudents in the context of supporting thedevelopment of learning skills across differentdisciplines. Other assignments are reflectiveaccounts of work with staff in the context of staffdevelopment consultancy projects.

Most of the work reflects the different ways inwhich staff from the Centre for Academic Practiceinteract with staff and student groups across theUniversity. These modes of working include: (a) astaff-development workshop programme aimed atintroducing teaching and learning staff to differenttopics and ideas, encouraging dialogue betweenpeople from different disciplines and engenderingsupport networks and collegial ways of working;and (b) working at departmental level with students— recognizing that teaching and learning arecomplementary activities. As teachers/tutors inhigher education shift their emphasis to becomefacilitators of active learning encouraging studentsto become autonomous independent learners(Boud, 1995), it is essential that students areappraised of this shift and enabled to cope with anethos of active student-centred learning.Therefore, students learning skills cannot beignored.

CAP staff and disciplinary based academic staffwork in partnership with students developing teamwork skills, self-evaluation of skills development,raising awareness of learning skills and continuousprofessional development. In this type ofpartnership CAP staff can pass their expertise on todisciplinary based students and staff and help tocontextualize educational developments.

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CAP staff must work with disciplinary based stafftowards a shared understanding within adepartment on issues such as the implementationof new teaching or assessment techniques so thatthere is a consistency with respect to informingstudents of the nature of innovative teachingstrategies. Many academic staff members of theCentre for Academic Practice work on an actionresearch consultancy basis to help develop coursecurricula and to consider the needs of both staffand students.

In this latter situation the 'educationalconsultants' inhabit a strange role. In one sensethey are teachers tasked with providing educationalknowledge and advice to higher education teachersabout learning and instruction. On the other handthey are learners who must come to grips with anew disciplinary domain, a specialist territory.Although armed with knowledge of the factors thatare essential to the development of an effectiveteaching and learning environment the consultantoften has little knowledge of the subject disciplineor the disciplinary culture. However, this situationmakes for ideal partnerships where the role of theconsultant is to contextualize and adapt his or herexpertise to that discipline and culture. Everyoneinvolved in the partnership can be at one timeboth teacher and learner. According to Stefani andNicol (1997) this means of working can have amajor impact in departments and is part of a moveto enhance dialogue between tutors and studentsin the teaching and learning environment in anattempt to encourage students to take 'ownership'of their learning.

Given the ways in which I work with staff andstudents, the Dip HERD course was ideally suitedto my developmental needs, and provided anexcellent opportunity for me to reflect on andconsider further development and publication ofmany aspects of my work. Clearly, given myinterpretations of teaching/teachers andstudents/learners my tutor on the course and theDip HERD team saw no incongruity in anAcademic Developer pursuing this course. It mustbe emphasized however that much of the work thatI used to inform my module assignments would notat the time have been possible for me to carry outwere I still based within my original disciplinarybase.

From pursuing a course to presentinga portfolio

By the time that I had successfully completed andpassed the Dip HERD course with distinction(1997), the SEDA concept of developing aportfolio of good practice, demonstrating howone's work embodies a set of underpinningprofessional values, core objectives and expertise inspecialist topics had gained more currency bothwithin the UK and internationally (SEDA, 1996).Furthermore, the Dealing Report had beenpublished with the strong recommendation thatteachers in Higher Education should endeavour tohave their academic practice activities accredited.The Dearing Report also recommended that staffinvolved in teaching in Higher Education shouldseek membership of a new professional body, theInstitute for Learning and Teaching in HigherEducation (ILTHE). The University of Strathclydeenrolled over 20 participants onto our AdvancedAcademic Studies accredited programme foracademic and related staff in its first iteration.Many senior members of staff articulated areluctance to enrol for and pursue an accreditedcourse but a willingness to present a portfolio ofgood practice in order to qualify for membershipof ILT. Suddenly, teaching and student learninghad risen in status in Higher Education.

These advancements suggested to me that Ishould enhance my own experience of portfoliodevelopment and I decided to be a guinea pig andreconfigure my Dip HERD assignments plus otherevidence of good practice into a portfolio which Iwould present under the SEDA Fellowship scheme.Essentially I set myself the task of exploring thepotential links between an accredited course forteachers in Higher Education and a portfolio ofevidence of good practice in staff and educationaldevelopment.

It is worthwhile enunciating some of the obviouslinkages as they related to my work while notwishing to make sweeping generalizations. Inpresenting my portfolio of evidence of goodpractice in accordance with the SEDA Fellowshipcore objectives it was possible to include everyassignment that I had presented in the Dip HERDcourse. For example one of the FSEDA coreobjectives requires evidence of 'having used a wideand appropriate range of development methods towork effectively with for example, large groups,small groups, one to one teaching and learners at adistance'. One of the compulsory modules of the

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Dip HERD course is on teaching and learningmethods which can include 'learning in largeclasses, learning in small groups, learning inpractical classes, project work etc'. I would contendthat in the modern university most teachers ortutors are engaged in the practice and thedevelopment of this range of instructionalmethods. Another core objective for FSEDArequires evidence of 'reflection on one's ownpersonal and professional practice anddevelopment' which closely matches therequirement of the double integrating module ofthe Dip HERD course to reflect on one's ownteaching and learning development. Thecompulsory Dip HERD module on conductingsmall scale research into teaching and learning inHigher Education closely matches the SEDA coreobjective of 'supporting or initiating advances instaff or educational development theory orpractice'. This latter link is becoming even strongerwith the advent of accredited courses for academicand related staff whereby more and moredisciplinary based staff are engaged in developinginnovative teaching and learning strategiesunderpinned by a theoretical framework. Indeedmore disciplinary based staff are seeking to havetheir work published in staff and educationaldevelopment journals.

Other core objectives for which evidence mustbe produced include 'employing personal andprofessional coping strategies' and 'performing thesupport and administrative tasks involved in one'swork'. These core objectives can applyjust as easilyto disciplinary based staff as they do to staff whoare particularly associated with academicdevelopment. It is very important to indicate thatin preparing my FSEDA portfolio, evidence ofgood practice in addition to my Dip HERDassignments was required. For example, theFellowship portfolio requires that candidates 'givefeedback to staff on selected aspects of their work','act as an advocate for staff and educationaldevelopment', support or initiate advances instaff or educational development theory orpractice'. From my own personal experience as a'teacher in higher education' many of theseaspects of the Fellowship could fall outside of theremit and experience of a disciplinary basedteacher.

To complete the portfolio potential SEDAFellows and accredited teachers must also showtheir commitment to a set of seven underpinningvalues. In summary: 'understanding how peoplelearn, recognising individual difference, focusing

on development, promoting scholarship andprofessionalism, emphasising collaboration,promoting equal opportunities and reflecting onpractice' (SEDA, 1996) and (SEDA website). Theseunderpinning values are very similar to the valuesunderpinning the SEDA Teacher Accreditationscheme. Interestingly the Dealing Report used verysimilar terms in relation to the responsibilities ofHigher Education teachers and tutors to developappropriate pedagogies for a mass highereducation system wherein we are coping with greatdiversity of the student population (Dealing,1997). Thus such underpinning values as thosearticulated by SEDA have now become recognizedas pertaining not only to Academic Developmentbut also to the teaching and learning environmentin general.

Coming full circle?Based on the issues I have outlined above it mayappear that I am suggesting that disciplinary basedacademic staff pursuing accreditation pathwayswhich relate in particular to teaching and learningactivities are essentially doing die same job asAcademic Developers?' My response to this wouldbe 'yes and no'. Yes, in the sense that thedisciplinary based staff are engaged in developingpedagogies appropriate to their own disciplinesupported by academic development staff and no,in die sense that disciplinary based staff are undergreat pressure to publish disciplinary basedresearch and thus teaching and learning may stillnot be dieir priority activity and in general terms itis likely that the impact of their work may not movebeyond the discipline. Academic Development staffon the other hand are equally likely to engage inresearch for the Education Unit of Assessment inthe Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) but theyare more likely to be engaged in translating andmodifying teaching and learning developments tosuit different disciplines.

What is interesting though is that it is possiblethat a new generation of Academic Developers willremain within a disciplinary base. There areenormous funding issues associated with AcademicDevelopment and different institutions havedifferent working models with staff secondments toAcademic Development activities becoming morepopular. It is important, therefore, that variousdifferent pathways to accreditation exist, to supportthe continuous professional development of staff,who may straddle a boundary between being a

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disciplinary based teacher and an AcademicDeveloper.

When I presented my FSEDA portfolio andengaged in the assessment interview, it was mystrong impression that the work I carried outrelating to student learning development was notrated as highly as work carried out with staff. Thereis an irony here. I changed my career because mystudent educational development work was notrated highly in the context of a disciplinary baseand now my SEDA assessors were giving me astrong impression that work with students was lessimportant than work with staff, that my work withstudents was merely teaching and not reallyeducational development. Another interpretationof this impression is that there is an increasinglystrong relationship between teaching and learningdevelopment at disciplinary level and staff andeducational development at institutional level.Teaching and learning are complementaryactivities and if we are spending time and energyworking with staff to enable them to engage inteaching developments, we should surely inparallel with this ensure that students aresupported in developing learning strategies whichare appropriate to innovative teaching methods.Only some of this work is taken on at disciplinarylevel.

Based on my own experiences and myobservation of routes taken by colleagues at localnational and international levels, I would contendthat Academic Development is not the province of aselect group of people who can answer to a clearlydenned set of credentials pertaining to this field ofstudy and practice. Rather Academic Developmentis an evolving aspect of academic practice, whichmay yet become an integral part of disciplinarybased work as well as part of the strategic missionof all Higher Education Institutions.

The role of qualifications andaccreditation'The SEDA Fellowship Scheme enables staff andeducational developers working in highereducation to develop and demonstrate theircompetence to help lecturers, support staff andtheir institutions to enhance the quality of theirwork and the student experience'. This is a noblegoal but the breadth and scope of the goal shouldnot be underestimated. It is highly likely that therewill be a desire to see staff engaged in teaching,learning and assessment and staff engaged in the

broad activities of academic development seekaccreditation of their own practice. To allow formaximum creativity and flexibility accreditationpathways should not be too narrow in their focus.If we truly wish to enhance students' experience inthe face of diversity, large classes, increased use ofcomputer and information technologies, the needfor inclusive curricula taking account of studentswith disabilities for example, it is not wise to havenational accreditation in the same way asgovernment has tried to impose a nationalcurriculum for schools. In the long term I believe itwill be more fruitful to have a wide doorwaythrough which a whole range of staff with differentexperiences of higher education teaching andlearning can pass. The challenge here is to ensureflexibility and adaptability of accreditationpathways and continuous professionaldevelopment programmes but at the same time toensure distinguishable pathways incorporating anappropriate set of standards for our practice toaffirm Academic Development as a uniqueprofession. In this the SEDA Fellowship Schemesets an admirable example while there is alwaysscope for development and review.

A personal journeyThis paper is a limited reflection on the nature ofAcademic Development as a profession andaddresses some of the questions posed by Andresen(1996) relating to apprenticeships for Developersand accreditation of practice. It is limited by thefact that it is a reflection on a personal journey. Iconsider myself to have pursued neither a uniquenor a common pathway. Myjourney has beenshaped by political factors and opportunitiesrelating to what is valued in different academicenvironments at different points in time andchanging attitudes relating to the perceivedpurposes of higher education; by professionalfactors relating to the pursuit of appropriatecredentials for a career in Academic Developmentand by expediency in terms of fulfilling personalambition. Much less so can I claim that myjourneyhas been shaped through pursuit of a common orpreferred pathway encompassing an agreed set ofstandards and values for Academic Development.

I have presented a reflective review of myjourney into Academic Development, not in anyway as a 'blueprint' but in the hope that it mayencourage others to reflect on and share theirsense of professional identity. Perhaps in this way,

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using an alternative research paradigm to gaininsights into the nature and scope of our chosenfield, we can further stimulate debate and dialogueto lead us to an agreed and shared conception ofAcademic Development as a unique profession.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professors George Gordonand Lewis Elton, Dr Liz Beaty and RanaldMacDonald for their encouragement, constructivecomments and support in writing this paper.

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Stefani, L. A. J., & Nicol, D. J. (1997). From teacher tofacilitator of collaborative enquiry. In S.Armstrong, S. Brown, & G. Thompson (Eds.),Facing up to radical changes in universities and colleges(ppl31-141). London: Kogan Page.

Tariq, V. N., Stefani, L. A. J., & Butcher, A. C. (1995).Citric acid production: an introduction tobiotechnology for first-year undergraduatestudents. Biochemical Education, 23(3), 145-148.

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The Author

Lorraine Stefani is a Senior Lecturer in theCentre for Academic Practice at the University ofStrathclyde. She is Advisor of Studies forparticipants pursuing an accredited CPD coursefor academic and related staff presented atthe University of Strathclyde. She is alsoAcademic Advisor on a major inter-universityproject to create an accessible curriculum forstudents with disabilities and is currently theAcademic Director of the Summer School runjoindy by the Universities of Glasgow andStrathclyde.

Address: Centre for Academic Practice, Universityof Strathclyde, 50 George Street, Glasgow Gl 1QE,Scodand

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