TLC series: Teacher training, career development and recognition of teaching innovation

The eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC) monitors and analyses educational trends and innovation, focusing on internal and external good practice to assist in the development of the educational model at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). José López Ruiz and Desirée Gómez Cardosa, members of the Teaching and Learning Analysis team, have carried out an analysis of centres responsible for promoting educational innovation in universities. Each article in the TLC series will examine an aspect of the work of the centres.This article considers the training of teaching staff, the development of their careers and the recognition of innovative teaching practice.

The impact of teachers’ professional development

As we saw in Teaching staff in constant evolution: frameworks for teaching development, the training of teachers in key competencies for their daily work or for the introduction of specific pedagogical practices is essential for the quality of teaching. What do we really mean by professional development within the framework of university teaching? According to Sancar, Atal, and Deryakulu (2021), the professional development of teachers is generally defined as a process that begins with teacher training and continues throughout their professional lives. It is affected by the characteristics of the teacher, the teaching content (what they teach), and teaching strategies, methods and approaches (how they teach).

This development is reinforced through a series of activities that include not only specific training through formal or informal courses, but also the promotion of innovation in their teaching practice and even the recognition of this as a mirror in which other teachers can see themselves reflected to improve their own professional praxis.

According to some reviews in the literature (Sancar, Atal, & Deryakulu, 2021), the teacher development process directly influences student outcomes. Related reforms, school contexts, curricula, partnerships, and formal and informal support activities are, therefore, an integral part of this process.

Aligning training programmes of study with teachers’ experience is increasingly important for training based on individual needs in both the subject area and specific pedagogical skills. This idea, taken up in the study by Raduan and Na (2020), highlights the need to create strategic teacher training curricula for all phases of professional development.

Training in competencies and skills for teaching

Competency management can be defined as an effective approach commonly applied in organizations to select, classify, and assess people, manage their careers, develop them, and assess their performance (Wong, 2020). The training of teachers in key competencies for their day-to-day work, the introduction of specific pedagogical practices, teacher training for final-year students, postgraduates or doctoral grantholders with an interest in teaching usually takes place via specific training initiatives at designated centres.

Teacher-oriented training with the intervention of TLC centres comprises, for example, courses for the acquisition of generic competencies, skills in certain areas of ICT and pedagogy that can be applied in the classroom, as is the case of the Competence View resource collection curated by the UTL unit (formerly the LET) at ETH Zürich and the Licensetraining programmes for teaching and research staff and the Dive into the UOC programme for affiliated teaching staff, promoted by the eLinC at the UOC, on the development of online teaching. Efforts are also being made to develop competencies in areas such as inclusiveness, e.g. the diversity and inclusion training programmes at the ITaLI centre (University of Queensland), accessibility, active methodologies, etc.

Some centres offer specific training in the skills necessary for teaching bachelor’s degree students and postdoctoral grantholders who want to pursue a teaching career at the institution. An example is the PUTL (Professional Development in University Teaching and Learning) courses developed by the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Queen’s University in Canada.

Teaching career development

The inclusion of skills linked to teaching improvement and innovation in the map of teachers’ competencies aims to ensure a greater positive impact on learning outcomes. In a university context, institutions that successfully foster an advanced teaching culture and align teacher development programmes and quality systems with a strategic vision of where the institution should be will have better levels of career development and teacher satisfaction, and higher levels of engagement and better learning outcomes from students (Paricio, 2018).

It is important to ensure that the portfolio of teaching competencies both allows teachers to progress in their careers and, at the same time, promotes educational transformation and improves the quality of learning in the institution. The eLinC analysis has identified a range of training programmes and activities designed for teachers to progress in the skills and values needed to promote innovation in teaching. Some include innovative practices such as prototyping, rapid design and Design Thinking methodology (at the University of Cape Town Hasso Platner d-school), Universal Design for Learning (UDL, at the University of Toronto), critical thinking (as in the Critical Thinking Project at the University of Queensland) and, in general, training to ensure teaching based on inclusiveness and equity.

Some programmes reinforce innovation in teaching within an ecosystem for educational transformation, as is the case of the Teaching Academy promoted by the TALIC centre at Hong Kong University, where future scenarios for student learning, curriculum design and professional development are analysed.Other centres certify teachers’ progress through the use of microcredentials and blockchain technology, as is the case of the CEDDIEINNOVACADEMY at Tec de Monterrey. Blockchain technology could provide solutions to challenges such as the complex nature of e-learning assessment, the problems associated with the lack of a unified assessment standard in e-Learning and the current insecurity of digital e-learning certificates (Li et al., 2019), while complying with the new European Union guidelines on the recognition of skills.

Recognition and distinction of inspirational teaching experience and practices

The recognition of pedagogical projects and teaching practices that contribute to significant change in the educational model of universities continues to be an indispensable assessment method for encouraging innovation in institutions. It helps to highlight the outstanding work of passionate or committed teaching staff who are doing different things to improve students’ learning experience while furthering their careers. Stump and Sastry from MIT (2023) suggest that it is necessary to bring these people to the fore and highlight their work.

As we have seen in the Temple strategies referred to in the HITS classification (Wright, 2023), there is a need for public recognition of good teaching and efforts to create change within an institution. Indeed, institutions that, at the organizational and governance level, can implement well-balanced policies and structures for recognition and reward with mechanisms for timely and appropriate assessment of contributions by their staff at each level (in this case we refer to teaching innovation), can encourage more teachers to develop and implement practices that have a positive impact on the learning of their students. After all, there is no guarantee that an academic who brings together skills and characteristics to foster educational innovation will remain motivated to pursue innovation and teaching excellence in a job that does not value or reward these activities (Fraser, 2019).

As stated in the University of Queensland’s Recognition and Reward Framework, a good programme should include formal and informal tools for recognizing achievement and be aligned with the university’s values and strategic plan. By sharing visions, it will have a better chance of encouraging the right behaviour among its staff.

The range of incentives promoted and managed by TLC centres that add to the more formal aspects of teacher policy and academic achievement, in terms of improving and promoting teaching innovation, can be very diverse, including different types of distinction, award and support that help teachers to increase the prestige of their work to improve teaching. These initiatives include support for teaching and learning research centres through SoTL (scholarship of teaching and learning) awards. Others are in the form of special public awards and mentions for teachers for their contribution to the promotion of learning. They include the Tec de Monterrey Inspiring Professor Award, the ETH Zürich Kite-Award for teaching innovation, presented at the university’s learning and teaching fair, and awards for leadership and teaching excellence such as the TEAS from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). All these distinctions share a common trait: they express recognition and gratitude to teachers for their hard work and determination to improve teaching at the university.

Conclusions

As we have seen, the professional development of teachers includes both the initial stage of training and ongoing education throughout their careers and can directly influence student outcomes. Good training should take into account the individual needs of teachers and should incorporate pedagogical innovation as a key to improving teaching. Some authors claim that developing carefully thought-out and well-executed professional development programmes can increase loyalty and satisfaction among teaching staff (Mohr & Shelton, 2017). There is a wide range of training activities aimed at teachers that include both formal and non-regulated courses, training programmes in transferable and specific skills (addressing topics as diverse as ICT or inclusion), and the creation of ecosystems that foster educational transformation. Within this process of constant transformation of educational skills, it is essential to promote an advanced teaching culture that connects teacher training with the strategic objectives of the institution. To this end, it is also important to improve teacher satisfaction by taking their needs into account (Sancar et al., 2021). New technologies, online programmes and advanced certification, such as microcredentials or blockchain, all improve the process of recognizing the skills acquired. In order to extend educational innovation and make it part of daily academic and cultural practice in the organization, it is necessary, as reflected in Fraser’s article Understanding innovative teaching practice in higher education (2019), for teaching staff to offer innovations to the students they teach, as well as influencing, involving and supporting othersin the implementation of innovative teaching practices. As we have commented, recognition and reward, apart from being a positive reinforcement tool to support aspects of this academic practice, also help to ensure attempts to innovate are not limited to the privileged situation and commitments of research, and to mitigate the pressure that this can exert on teachers’ time, according to some academics interviewed in the study by Smith, K. (2011) on how innovative practice is understood and implemented in teaching and learning in higher education.

References

Fraser, S. (2019). Understanding innovative teaching practice in higher education: a framework for reflection. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(7), 1371–1385. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1654439

Li, C., Guo, J., Zhang, G., Wang, Y., Sun, Y., Bie, R. (2019). A Blockchain System for E-Learning Assessment and Certification. 2019 IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT), Tianjin, China, pp. 212-219. https://doi.org/10.1109/SmartIoT.2019.00040

Mohr, S., & Shelton, K. (2017). Best Practices Framework for Online Faculty Professional Development: A Delphi Study. Online Learning, 21(4), 123-140. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v21i4.1273

Paricio Royo, J. (2018). Marco de desarrollo profesional del profesorado universitario. Planteamiento general y dimensiones. Zaragoza, Spain: REDU. Red Estatal de Docencia Universitaria. Available at https://red-u.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MarcoREDU_Doc1_PlanteamGral_1.pdf

Raduan, N. A., & Na, S. I. (2020). An integrative review of the models for teacher expertise and career development. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3), 428–451. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1728740

Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103305

Smith, K. (2011). Cultivating innovative learning and teaching cultures: a question of garden design. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(4), 427–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2011.560374

Stump, G.S. & Sastry, A. (2023). Teaching and Learning Centers: A pathway to sustainable teaching innovations. MIT J-WEL.

Wong, S. Ch. (2020). Competency Definitions, Development and Assessment: A Brief Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v9-i3/8223

Wright, M.C. (2023). Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher Education. (p. 9). Johns Hopkins University Press.