Pedagogy training among political scientists: Opportunities, interest, and obstacles

Abstract

Over the last two decades there have been periodic calls for improved teacher training and a growth in scholarship on teaching and learning. Yet, we know little about opportunities and participation in training programs. What kinds of training are political scientists collectively engaging in, especially for tenured and tenure track faculty? Are political science departments providing training programs for both faculty and graduate students? With the cooperation of the American Political Science Association, we included five questions about pedagogical training in a survey of Teaching and Learning Conference participants and in a survey of APSA members in 2018. We find that there is interest in different kinds of training experiences, but most of the training takes place outside the department. Within departments, there may be resource and culture-related obstacles to offerings and participation. Results indicate a need for more resources and career-related incentives in order to encourage participation in these opportunities.

Keywords:

• Pedagogy training
• teacher training
• higher education
• tenure and promotion

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express great thanks to the number of people who took their valuable time to review different aspects of this project. While they did not see the manuscript, the following people provided important feedback on our questions: Victor Asal, Wendy L. Johnston, Vanessa Lefler, Wesley Nishiyama, Julie Novkov, Jessica Pidgeon, and Patricia Strach. Panel attendees and discussants at the 2016 Teaching and Learning Conference, the 2019 Southern Political Science Conference, and the 2019 Midwest Political Science Conference provided critical feedback at different stages of development and writing. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the cooperation of the research staff at the American Political Science Association who graciously allowed us to include questions on their surveys of members.

Notes

1 Research in teaching pedagogy often focuses on training for graduate students and has served as a foundation for the literature on teaching pedagogy in political science. Over 40 years ago, Gerald Benjamin of SUNY New Paltz observed a pattern of warnings that the discipline of political science lacked adequate teacher training for graduate students  (Benjamin 1971). Today, research confirms that graduate students and faculty often feel that newly graduating political scientists are ill-prepared to teach (Euchner and Jewell 1989; Gaff et al. 2003; Rothgeb, Spadafore, and Burger 2007). These frequent calls for training are not unique to political science (Bérubé and Ruth 2015; Bok 2013; Burke 2001; Magner 2000). Some have even proposed the addition of a teaching track for doctoral programs (Cassuto 2012; Jenkins 2013, 2015).

2 That stated, we cannot assume that everyone that wants to teach wants formal training which is why we asked questions about interest in participating in certain types of training.

3 Because we wished to understand perceptions of why there might be obstacles to training within the department, we chose not to ask for solely department chair information.

4 The total respondents of 325 and 318 included doctoral fellows, instructors, tenure track, tenured, retired, consulting, government, research organization/think tank, and academic administration. As a result, we do not have answers in the APSA membership survey to report from those that selecting the following answer to “What is your current primary position within the discipline?”: Unemployed, Undergraduate Student, Retired, Research Organization or Think Tank, Other non-Academic, Other please specify, and Government. Results are reported collectively for all respondents that did receive the questions in both surveys, including tenured, tenure track, graduate students, and other political scientists as our sample only includes a small percentage of graduate students and others and we are interested in trends across the discipline. Because survey participants did not always respond to all questions, to simplify the reporting, results for each question are reported using the number of individuals that responded to the question in each sample. For a complete accounting of responses, including non-responses, the database is available at: https://mtsu.edu/faculty/dtrowbridge/pedagogyresults2020.php

5 These percentages are calculated out of the total responses to five positions: adjunct instructor, faculty position, graduate students, post-doctoral fellow, or academic administration. The APSA survey included other categories including retired, research organizations or think tank, government, employed, and other options. However, those selecting the former categories were not provided our survey questions.

6 Program design or development means the establishment of syllabi banks, curriculum review and development, reviewing graduate program, and related activities.

7 These figures include “strongly” and “moderately” encourage.

8 These figures include “slightly encourage” or “make no difference.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Trowbridge

David L. Trowbridge is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University where he teaches courses in American politics and legal studies. His research resides at the intersection of law and social movements, particularly in the area of cause lawyering. He received his doctorate in political science from the University at Albany, SUNY in 2018.

Jennifer Woodward

Jennifer Woodward is an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University and Research Fellow at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy’s Center for Policy Research. Her scholarship focuses on the development and implementation of civil rights laws in education and employment. By looking at the potential of law, courts, and government agencies to shape and be shaped by society, she evaluates the everyday encounters between individuals and the laws designed to protect them. During her career, Woodward has worked at the College of William and Mary, American Bar Foundation, New York Latino Research and Resources Network, New York State Department of Civil Service, and the University at Albany, State University of New York where she received her doctorate in 2013. Her prior research includes publications on the formation of the National Organization for Women, the implementation of school desegregation in Nashville-Davidson County, TN and bilingual education laws in New York. Currently, Woodward is working on projects related to the early interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, institutional capacity of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the importance of teaching pedagogy in higher education.