Towards the Theorized Development of the Teaching and Learning Capabilities of the Next Generation of Academics

Saleem Badat Carnegie Corporation Conference Developing and Retaining the Next Generation of African Academics: Excellence, Retention, and Sustainability

1

Purposes

• • •

Cultivation of highly educated people

………….

Dissemination of knowledge

…….

Learning and teaching

(Newman)

Enhance understanding of the natural and social worlds

…..

Production of knowledge

…..

Research

(Humboldt)

Contribute to developing communities

...... …

Community engagement

….

Service Learning

2

A road map

• • • • • • • •

A Core Purpose ……..

and Goal The Problem Why we can’t neglect T&L …… and More reasons why we can’t neglect T&L Some key issues for T&L T&L Agenda …… and Implications for Practice Back to the Problem Central argument …..

and Critical tasks …… and Critical issues What is to be done?

3

A Core Purpose

• • •

To form and cultivate the cognitive character of students

Also intimately connected to the idea of

citizenship

, and

democratic

The “

cultivation of humanity

” (Nussbaum) •

Universities are tasked with the arduous formation of a critical, creative and compassionate citizenry

4

Goal

• • • • • • •

To produce graduates that ideally:

Can think effectively and critically Achieve depth in some field of knowledge Have a critical appreciation of the ways in which we gain knowledge and understanding of the universe, of society, and of ourselves Test the inherited knowledge of earlier generations Dismantle the mumbo jumbo that masquerades for knowledge Are decent human beings 5

The Problem

• • Teaching and learning (T&L) - a fundamentally important activity, yet often

neglected

Tendency to regard it as an commonsense activity.

innate ability

or

“… the distinctive feature of common sense is not that its beliefs and assumptions are true but that it is a style of thinking in which the truth of these beliefs and assumptions is regarded as self-evident and taken for granted.

What is commonsensical is ipso facto unquestionable and does not need to be justified ” (Carr, drawing on Antonio Gramsci).

6

Why we can’t neglect T&L

1. African universities institutions

largely undergraduate

teaching 2. Postgraduate programs involve degree of T&L 3. T&L based on common sense notions unwittingly

compromises important goals

and alienates significant portions of the student body 4. Achievement of

academic literacy

is a struggle for portion of students - requires attention 5. Academy’s ‘

ways of knowing

’ foreign to some students attention greater diversity means this needs 7

6.

Changing social composition

of student body profound new T&L challenges for academics and universities 7. Challenges related to the ‘

under-preparedness

’ of students for higher learning 8. Challenges related to

drop-out, pass, throughput and graduation rates

, which result in wastage of talent and scarce financial resources

9.

PhD or Masters

not a guarantee of academic expertise in higher education T&L 8

More reasons why we can’t neglect T&L

•

Equity of opportunity and outcomes

crucially on supportive depend institutional environments and cultures; curriculum innovation; appropriate learning and teaching strategies and methods; appropriate induction and support, and effective academic mentoring - require far more than a set of generic teaching skills; necessitate

and careful engagement sustained

9

• The challenge of opportunity must be viewed as part of a wider project of

democratising access to

knowledge and the production of knowledge.

This means that beyond providing students formal access, it is also vital to ensure ‘

epistemological access

’.

This epistemological access is central not only to issues such as also to the very

throughput and graduation rates institution

but of the university itself and to the

role

it can play in development and democracy in African societies 10

Some key issues for T&L

1. Kinds and configuration of

competencies, skills and attitudes

require

knowledge,

that graduates 2. Increasingly

diverse

social and educational backgrounds and experiences of students 3. The need to constantly

constants unpack the assumed

in our disciplines/fields and

interrogate

what we and our students have learned to take for granted 11

T&L Agenda

• • • • • T&L programs are thoughtfully and

conceptualized and designed

explicitly articulated goals

rigorously

to achieve clearly and T&L programs are

effectively implemented

Mechanisms exist to

critically monitor and r eview

the quality of T&L programs Academics possess the

necessary capabilities

respect to high quality T&L with University has the capacity and capabilities to

and enhance the quality assure

of T&L programs and the capabilities of academics with respect to T&L 12

Implications for Practice

• Agenda for teaching and learning, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in

Africa

, raises

serious epistemological, other issues

.

ontological and

•

Have to discard the misguided naturalisation of the practice of T&L, which perpetuates its neglect, and also rethink the unadulterated privileging of research over T&L

.

13

Back… to the Problem

• • •

Inadequate critical discussion

academic departments, faculties, institutions and nationally.

on T&L issues in Little appreciation that the including curriculum frameworks, their underlying assumptions, course design, and approaches to delivery and assessment - is

educational process

–

neither immutable nor a technical or neutral issue

That it is ‘historically’ and ‘socially’ constructed’ and a significant variable that

affects performance

and determines

who succeeds

.

14

Central argument

•

Have to ensure that the next generation of academics is intellectually and academically equipped not only for research but also for T&L , and CE, and to contribute to the transformation and development of Africa’s universities

•

Means that preparation of next generation must be more varied and extensive than just research training, and must include exposure to and support in various other issues and activities

15

Critical tasks

Preparation of next generation of academics must also

• • Give attention to the

theorized development of their teaching and learning capabilities

Equip them to

address institutional culture and transformation issues

and how to

strategically navigate

the structures and processes of universities

Otherwise will fail to adequately prepare the next generation for the demands of academic work and university transformation and development

16

Critical issues

• Given the challenges and tasks, not merely ‘

skills ’

improvement ‘or ‘tips for better teaching’ • Serious preparation of next generation for T&L needs • • A

rigorously theorised approach

deep reflection on contextual realities which includes

Research

, as theorised approach to T&L and sustained improvements cannot occur in its absence 17

What is to be done?

1. Accepted that it takes extended period of induction, practice, mentoring and support to develop as a researcher.



Necessary to recognize that teaching is a scholarly endeavour critical

- scholarship of teaching

(Boyer).

To become an effective higher education teacher also period of induction, practice, mentoring and support .

requires an extensive

18

2. In the same way as theory, methodology and methods are explicitly taught as part of the grounding of a researcher 

It is also necessary to ground the next generation of academics in the theories of knowledge and of teaching and learning

, curriculum and pedagogy;

and in engaging with a diverse student body, the nature and assessment of student learning, and the induction of students into disciplines and knowledge production

19

Outline of a L&T Program

• Guided by certain

core values and principles

: social justice, transformation and development, inclusion, diversity and ethical excellence, collaboration, sustainability and integration of research, teaching and learning, and community engagement • Confer on the next generation academic the

status of an academic

, as opposed to a postdoctoral fellow or student, while providing her/him with

structured development opportunities

20

•

Build expertise in T&L

through teaching development courses, teaching experience, participation in academic departmental activities, mentoring by experienced academics, etc.

• Program on developing T&L capabilities should include

building competence for research on T&L

fostering the

scholarship of T&L

would be an

-

invaluable contribution to

capabilities enhancing the T&L

of next generation academics and the

institutional capacities of their universities

.

21

•

T&L Hubs/Centres

• • • Giving serious attention to T&L requires an

institutional hub

with the knowledge and expertise to enhance and support T&L.

Would be strategic to

develop such expertise

through deploying some next generation academics to focus on academic staff development The T&L

expertise of university leaders

also needs to be built. Carnegie goal of also ‘developing and retaining the next generation of African university leaders’ provides the scope for this.

22

ICT’s in L&T

• • • ICT’s

can enhance quality

appropriately deployed at contact universities if

as part of

T&L strategies.

Of importance - pedagogic value of ICT’s should not be

overstated

should not be and their human and other costs

underestimated

.

ICT’s

not a panacea

for various T&L problems - will not deliver higher quality education per se, especially if little thought is given to the underpinning principles of T&L and to issues of program design and delivery, student support, assessment, quality assurance, etc.

23

Outcomes of a L&T Program

•

The development of the next generation of academics as professional educators who possess the requisite T&L capabilities , can contribute to the development of the T&L capacities of African universities , and can support the transformation of universities .

24