Overseas flying faculty teaching as a trigger for transformative professional development

Abstract

In earlier work, I proposed that flying faculty teaching, where home institution academics teach for short, intense periods in host countries, could foster transformative professional development. In the present article, I explore this empirically. Using the biographic–narrative–interpretative method, five male academics were interviewed three times about their experiences of teaching outside the country where they ordinarily work. The data provide vivid descriptions of overseas teaching in terms of the content (choice of materials, contextualisation, research areas); process (delivery and facilitation, hierarchy, language); and premise (the enterprise of internationalisation, expanded worldviews and global appreciation) of academic practice. The findings raise issues about how universities and the academic development community more specifically support and develop staff for such globalised roles.

Keywords:

• transnational education
• professional development
• transformational learning
• biographical–narrative–interpretive method
• flying faculty