Professional Faculty Development

altany — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:10:31 +0000

Professional faculty development is a way for a university to engage in continuous re-formation, even trans-formation. It can be an agent or catalyst for individual and collegial growth, both personal and professional. Since many college and university faculty were not specifically education in how people learn and in how to teach for the best learning to occur, nor did most serve in some form of a teaching internship or apprenticeship, faculty development is key to student learning. Faculty development in teaching, learning and scholarship that can be portrayed as follows:

central to student learning outcomes
a professional, ethical responsibility (to discipline, students, colleagues, institution, society, future, self)
practical results: more effective & enjoyable teaching and student learning
personal development and identity
necessary to fulfill the university’s mission and aspirations
develops more openness and collaboration about teaching and learning among faculty, leading to a more collegial academic community and less isolation in learning to become ever-better teachers
a factor in attracting and retaining the best faculty, which is a significant factor in attracting, retaining, and graduating students
respects the faculty’s knowledge and experience of their disciplines, teaching and learning, and their wisdom about the profession
generates opportunities for interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations

The process of faculty development is like the banyan tree and its compelling growth. The tree is grounded in evidence-based practice, called the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), research on how best to teach one’s discipline so that students best learn it in deep, enduring ways. Other forms of scholarship complete the foundation.Faculty development is an integrating, uniting factor for faculty of all disciplines. It provides a forum for all methods of teaching, again serving to unite a campus in the pursuit of its mission. Thus, professional faculty development is a process never completed. And that is a very good thing. New roots are always needed. Faculty development is energy, reflection, and action day by day.

Teaching & Learning Commons » Faculty Development

Professional Faculty Development