‘Both sides now’: the meitheal method for professional development in higher education

ABSTRACT

In 2017, the participants of a higher education professional development (PD) working group (meitheal) met face-to-face and remotely to examine the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (NFTL) Framework for Professional Development. Through collaboration and mentorship, members of the meitheal successfully familiarised themselves with the PD framework document and built a community of practice of inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional practitioners. Using a self-study conceptual framework, this article reflects on the work of the meitheal, its establishment and organisation, its influences on the participants and its place in the national PD project. It draws on the shared reflections of the participants and feedback gathered throughout the project, by means of discussion, written reflections, focus groups, audio and video diaries, and NFTL feedback sheets. It draws conclusions and makes recommendations for future professional development projects, drawing on the epistemological, technological and social foundations of self-study theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional development
• reflection and critical self-reflection
• mentoring
• collaboration
• technological enablement

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Both Sides Now’ posits negative and positive perceptions in opposition to each other and shows the ways in which attitudes can colour one’s approach to and experiences of the world. This central duality, as well as the song’s line ‘don’t give your self away’, led to the song becoming the ‘brand’ of the meitheal.

2. Traditionally in Irish culture, a 'meitheal' (mɛhəl) was a team or working group established to carry out a single function, e.g. a 'meitheal' might comprise a group of neighbours working together to complete seasonal work.

3. For a full examination of the project, see Donnelly and Maguire (2018).

4. To kick-start the first meeting of the meitheal, the author sang Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ to guitar accompaniment from one of the participants who was connecting remotely to the meeting – to symbolise the oppositional nature of these elements in HE!

5. While of practical aid to our university participants, this ‘offsite visit’ also served to reflect the underpinning values of the meitheal, i.e. equality and collaboration.

6. The participative, collaborative meitheal working method has promoted this ‘culture of sustainable engagement’ while the partnership of the mentors has grown through further collaboration and scholarly output.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bernadette Brereton

Bernadette Brereton is a teacher of 30 years’ experience and works in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland. In 2020, in recognition of her excellent work in the sector, she was a member of the nine-person shortlist for the inaugural NFTL Research Fellowship, the most prestigious national individual teaching and learning awards in higher education.

In 2017, she was seconded to the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a member of the Professional Development Expert Group, piloting the PD Framework nationally. This article arises from that secondment.