Reflections on a professional development course for educational developers

Abstract

Entry into the Fellowship of Staff and Educational Development Association is through the production of a professional portfolio which evidences the applicant’s achievement of the Fellowship requirements. Supporting and Leading Educational Change takes participants through the Fellowship process. The 12-week online course combines theory of educational development and change management, with group exercises and individual application to practice. Participants are educational developers who are themselves often facilitators of courses for university teachers. In this reflective case study the course tutors provide a personal reflection based on their experience of two very different cohorts. They review the cohorts to identify successful experiences and good practice. Drawing on the literature surrounding online learning, communities of practice and Lizzio’s senses for student success, they situate their reflections in the context of professional development in general and in educational development in particular.

Keywords:

• Professional development
• educational development
• online learning

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all those learners and tutors who allowed their viewpoints to be used for this article. In the interest of anonymity they cannot be named directly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.