Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence

A new era for higher education

Christine Broughan, Graham Steventon, Lynn Clouder, Christine Broughan, Graham Steventon, Lynn Clouder

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351812122
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Teaching excellence in higher education needs to be promoted and celebrated. However, a universal definition of excellent teaching remains elusive, and robust evidence about how it affects student learning appears to be lacking. This timely book explores the notion of teaching excellence from the viewpoint of a variety of international authors; guiding the reader to understand the complex terrain in which teaching excellence is foregrounded, and highlighting a number of key issues facing the future of global higher education.

Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence explores:

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• what is meant by teaching excellence, whether it can be measured and if so, how?

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• the impact of teaching excellence frameworks, initiatives and awards.

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• the new challenges for delivering global teaching excellence fit for the 21st century.

With a mix of political, theoretical and applied research foci, each chapter also includes a short critical commentary from international experts in the field to further the debate and situate the topics in a wider context. Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence is essential reading for academic and education policymakers, researchers, and undergraduate and postgraduate students in education.

1
WHAT IS TEACHING EXCELLENCE?

Sandeep Gakhal

Introduction

Over the last two decades teaching excellence has become of increasing global concern in higher education (Gunn and Fisk 2013; Land and Gordon 2015) and yet there is no general agreement as to what it constitutes (Gunn and Fisk 2013; Greatbatch and Holland 2016). Hence, this chapter seeks to: (i) explore and draw similarities and comparisons between the ways in which teaching excellence is defined globally; (ii) provide a critique of the conceptions used within a number of teaching excellence initiatives and how well these align with teachers’ and students’ perceptions of teaching excellence; (iii) examine future implications for the higher education environment in terms of the way in which teaching excellence is defined and, in turn, measured. A case study is presented that examines the UK’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) using Kelly’s (1955) repertory grid.

The findings of the repertory grid case study emphasize tensions between the way in which teaching excellence is defined by teachers and students, and how well these align with the proxy measures used to assess teaching excellence within the TEF. These findings are in line with previous studies (see, for example, Vielba and Hillier 2000, in Skelton 2005) and highlight inconsistencies between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of teaching excellence and proposed models of measuring teaching excellence. Furthermore, concerns exist around the proxy metrics used within the TEF as it is suggested that they are providing a skewed representation of teaching excellence (Robinson and Hilli 2016). Consequently, questions are raised as to whether the implementation of initiatives, such as the TEF, will actually result in driving up teaching excellence. Despite this, the chapter concludes that national initiatives, such as the TEF, are increasingly likely to acquire sector dominance in the future. Such initiatives, which are discussed in the chapter, focus on comparative measures between institutions as a means of promoting teaching excellence and benchmarking teaching quality across institutions. In this context, teaching excellence becomes defined by easily identifiable and harvestable data that relies on objective measures of performance. As a result, initiatives of this kind are at risk of promoting a monolithic view of teaching excellence.

Defining teaching excellence in the 21st century

Various definitions of ‘excellence’ and ‘teaching’ exist. Macfarlane (2007) usefully distinguishes between different stages of teaching: (1) pre-performance – involving all tasks undertaken prior to the teaching, such as preparing teaching materials; (2) performance – comprising teaching undertaken in various settings, such as lectures, seminars and workshops; (3) post-performance – involving all tasks following the teaching activity including providing learners with guidance and support. Sangoleye and Kolawole (2016) suggest that teaching can be defined as a variety of instructional methods designed to promote deep learning and conceptual change such as effective questioning. Furthermore, Fitzmaurice (2010) suggests that teaching involves building and nurturing a safe and supportive environment, which stimulates learning. The definitions provided suggest that the teacher’s performance cannot, and should not, be measured in isolation.

As with definitions of teaching, there are also differences in the way that excellence is defined. According to Brusoni et al. (2014: 27), ‘excellence is a highly relative concept, it implies a judgement that evaluates if and to what extent something or someone possesses some definite intrinsic characteristics to be considered excellent (in relation to oneself and others)’. In other words, excellence is relational and influenced by those whose interests are being served, measured or judged at any given period (Brown 2011; Brusoni et al. 2014).

Taking into consideration the various definitions of what is meant by ‘teaching’ and ‘excellence’ as individual concepts, it comes as no surprise that there is no agreed definition of ‘teaching excellence’ as discussed earlier (Gunn and Fisk 2013; Greatbatch and Holland 2016) and it is questionable as to whether this is something that we should aspire to. Teaching excellence can be interpreted and assessed in various ways (Hammer et al. 2010). Elton (1998: 9) argues that teaching excellence is ‘multi-dimensional’ and Skelton (2005: 4) perceives it as a ‘contested and value-laden concept’. The rapid growth of global higher education has resulted in institutions continuously striving to review and improve the quality of their teaching and research (Üstünlüoğlu 2016), for example in Australia (Dinham 2013) and India (Gafoor and Shilna 2013), in order to positively impact on student learning outcomes (Archibong and Nja 2011).

Individual teaching excellence

Within the literature, teaching excellence has been primarily concerned with determining what constitutes excellence in teaching (Chen et al. 2012). Although there is no universal agreement, there are some commonalities, including an emphasis on personal attributes/expertise of the teacher and student development (Gibbs 2008; Brusoni et al. 2014). For example, students’ perceptions of effective teaching in a Nigerian university were mostly found to be characterized by the ability to assess their level of comprehension and respond to questions sufficiently (Aregbeyen 2010). In a Slovenian university, first year students were found to be primarily concerned with a teacher’s ability to deliver content in a clear, coherent and engaging manner; however, third year students were more concerned with the teacher’s ability to develop students’ in-depth knowledge of the subject area, promote independent learning and instil critical thinking skills (Šteh et al. 2014). Research has also shown differences in perceptions of excellent teaching between and across cultures (Keeley et al. 2012); for example, Chinese students tend to favour more structured, goal-orientated teaching in comparison to Japanese students who value more interpersonal teacher/student relationships (Liu et al. 2015; Keeley et al. 2016).

Institutional and national teaching excellence

Numerous institutional and national initiatives exist to encourage and support teaching excellence (Land and Gordon 2015; Greatbatch and Holland 2016). These include auditing and accrediting courses (Mohd. Deni et al. 2014), staff development programmes (Lemass and Stace 2010), and gathering students’ feedback on teaching (Flodén 2016). Accrediting agencies, such as the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and South Africa’s Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), aim to ensure that higher education programmes are delivered to the highest standards (Luckett 2010; Mohd. Deni et al. 2014). However, although auditing and accrediting courses provides a standardized and consistent approach to the way in which programmes are managed and delivered, they do not necessarily lead to improved teaching quality in practice (Mohd. Deni et al. 2014), or better student outcomes (Luckett 2010). Similarly, despite the seemingly global obsession of collating and analysing student feedback (Denson et al. 2010; Flodén 2016), some studies suggest that it does not, by itself, lead to improvements in teaching practice. For example, Blair and Noel (2014) investigated student evaluations from five courses, delivered by the same teacher during 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, and findings indicated little evidence of improvements in teachers’ practice as a result of the feedback provided (Lemass and Stace 2010). Likewise, many institutions offer professional development programmes to foster effective teaching skills and yet they are often disregarded by academic staff (Lemass and Stace 2010).

Predominately, teaching excellence initiatives have focused on recognizing and rewarding individual teaching excellence (D’Andrea 2007; Skelton 2007). In many countries, various teaching award schemes have been introduced (Brown 2011) which underpin different definitions of teaching excellence as illustrated in Table 1.1 (Gibbs, 2008); for example, the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) in the UK (Higher Education Academy 2015); the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) in Australia (Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2017); the Inspired Teaching Awards in India (Indian Honour 2017). Leibowitz, Farmer and Franklin (2012) also provide a range of examples of the different types of criteria used within teaching awards to measure teaching excellence.

TABLE 1.1 Different conceptions of teaching excellence underlying teaching award schemes

1. No conception

2. Exhibiting certain behaviours in a skillful way

3. Implementing a student focus effectively

4. Engaging in the scholarship of teaching

5. Exploiting benefits from disciplinary research

6. Developing students

7. Creating effective learning environments

8. Good citizenship

9. Innovating in teaching

10. Developing the teaching of others

11. Corporate definitions of excellence

12. Leadership in teaching

13. Collegial definitions of excellence

Source: Adapted from Gibbs (2008: 6 & 7)

In Australia, an increasing number of higher education institutions have adopted the former Australian Learning Teaching Council’s (ALTC) set of criteria at an institutional level to recognize and reward excellent teaching within their institutions (Devlin and Samarawickrema 2010). This wide-scale adoption suggests that the criteria have had a positive impact on teaching excellence; however, the authors do not present evidence demonstrating formal measures of impact. Furthermore, the authors contend that the ALTC criteria should be revised and re-worked in order to respond to rapid changes in higher education.

Whilst some teaching excellence initiatives emphasize the role of the individual teacher, others focus on influencing teaching excellence at the institutional level. A national initiative, introduced in Germany in 2010, specifically intended to serve the latter. The Competition for Teaching Excellence (CfTE) encouraged higher education institutions to apply for the award of excellence in teaching. Submissions were assessed against a diverse set of criteria and successful institutions obtained additional funding (Brockerhoff et al. 2014). The CfTE advocates a multifaceted concept of teaching excellence which is viewed through various structural (for example: curriculum design) and cultural (for example: staff development programmes) activities designed to enhance teaching quality within an institution (Brockerhoff et al. 2014). Given that there has been no formal evaluation of the CfTE, it is difficult to conclude whether or not it has impacted positively ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of abbreviations
• Notes on contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction: A new era for higher education
• 1 What is teaching excellence?
• 2 What outcomes are we trying to achieve from excellent teaching and why are they so difficult to measure?
• 3 Bounded excellence
• 4 Teaching excellence and transnational education: Enhancement through a focus on student diversity and context
• 5 Excellence for what? Policy development and the discourse on the purpose of higher education
• 6 The impact of governance on teaching excellence in academic microcultures
• 7 A national strategy for teaching excellence – one university at a time
• 8 National teaching awards and the pursuit of teaching excellence
• 9 Training and development needs for a 21st century academic
• 10 Teaching excellence and the rise of education-focused employment tracks
• 11 Excellence for all: Inclusive teaching with a passion – A teaching excellence recognition scheme
• 12 I had excellent teachers – look at my fabulous career! Perspectives on teaching excellence in the performing arts
• 13 The thrill of the unexpected
• 14 Global perspectives on teaching excellence
• Index