Lecturers learning to teach: the role of agency

ABSTRACT

Lecturers may be exposed to the same Academic Development Programme but their course of action at personal and professional level vary. In this paper, I analyze the lecturers’ contribution in shaping their learning to teach. I interviewed twenty-five lecturers in four private universities in Kenya using semi-structured interviews. The analysis showed that the onus to learn how to teach lies with the individual lecturer (agency) especially in contexts that lack a systematic approach to lecturers’ learning. Academic developers may be interested in understanding how the exercise of agency in learning how to teach leads to variations in lecturers’ actions.

KEYWORDS:

• Agency
• contribution
• Kenya
• learning to teach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary Omingo

Mary Omingo is an assistant director teaching and learning network at the Aga Khan University. Previously she was the director of teaching and learning at Strathmore University in Kenya. She is a founding member of the Association for Faculty Enrichment in Learning and Teaching (AFELT), in Kenya. She holds a PhD in higher education (curriculum studies) from Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.