Quality and qualifications: the value of centralised teaching courses for postgraduates who teach

ABSTRACT

The focus of this research is the centralised provision of professional development opportunities for postgraduate teaching assistants (PGTAs) through accredited and non-accredited courses (ACs and NACs), and their perceived and actual benefits. Evidence on the impact of courses at the University of Birmingham (UK) is synthesised with evidence from the wider sector and discussed within the context of UK higher education. The outcomes point to the positive impact of ACs for institutions and students with regard to learning, employability, professional confidence, and gaining a qualification. The consensus is that courses lead to a noticeable enhancement of professional knowledge, ability, and confidence.

KEYWORDS:

• Accredited CPD
• CPD impact
• graduate teaching assistants
• non-accredited CPD
• PGTAs

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our survey participants: the PGTAs (at the University of Birmingham) and the other Higher Education professionals (who responded to a request on the SEDA JISCmail list).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2020.1863810.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Els Van Geyte

Dr Els Van Geyte is an Educational Developer at the Higher Education Futures institute at the University of Birmingham, where she is Programme Lead for the courses for Postgraduates who teach. She is an Applied Linguist, specialising in argumentation and academic writing, and is interested in international students and wider issues of inclusivity.

Marios Hadjianastasis

Dr Marios Hadjianastasis is an Educational Developer and PGCHE Programme Director at the University of Birmingham. His areas of expertise are critical pedagogy, learning theories, and philosophy of education. His work focuses on auto-ethnographic narratives of un/belonging and exclusion, critical approaches to the marketization of HE, and research-intensive learning.