Professional development practices and preferences in Irish Higher Education: insights from a regional survey

ABSTRACT

The character of professional development offered to those who teach in higher education is changing. There is a shift towards the adoption of more flexible, work-based, apprenticeship models, where experiential routes are increasingly valued. This paper seeks to understand the factors that impact engagement in academic professional development. A quantitative study reveals that experience, years of service, and discipline have little impact on educators’ professional development preferences, nor on the recognition of individual needs and contextual nuances to ensure optimal engagement in academic professional development. We demonstrate that it is not possible to profile professional development pathways in these ways, thus strengthening the evidence base for a flexible approach to it.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional development
• preference
• barriers
• enablers

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education under the FLEXIPATH project.

Notes on contributors

Emma O Brien

Dr. Emma O Brien is an Academic Developer in Technology Enhanced Learning in the Learning Enhancement Academic Development Centre at Mary Immaculate College, where she leads the institution-wide adoption of digital pedagogies.

Gwen Moore

Dr. Gwen Moore is Senior Lecturer and Director of Teaching and Learning at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, where she leads the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Academic Development. Gwen’s research interests include higher music education and teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education.

Laura Costelloe

Dr. Laura Costelloe is an Academic Developer in the Learning Enhancement and Academic Development (LEAD) Centre at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick where she supports the professional learning of those who teach, including the coordination of the Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice.

Íde O’Sullivan

Dr. Íde O’Sullivan is a Senior Educational Developer in the Centre for Transformative Learning at the University of Limerick, where she is Curriculum Development Support Lead and Course Director of the Graduate Diploma/MA in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.