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The paper traces the evolution of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from early 2002 to the end of 2021. The University needed a centre to support both institutional and local (department and faculty) needs and aspirations for enhancing teaching and learning. Five key strategies adopted by CLEAR are: embedding the practice of existing teachers into policy development, localizing quality-assurance processes, relating professional-development activities to career development, involving students, and producing research evidence from within the Hong Kong context. The evidence base that supports these strategies, and the cultural and community factors involved, will be woven into an evidence-based narrative that spans 20 years.

English as a foreign language teachers' associations (henceforth ELTAs) act as empowering platforms for English Language Teaching (ELT) professionals (Lamb, 2012), and yet the contributions of ELTA leaders have not been widely investigated in the fields of second language acquisition and language pedagogy. In order to fill this niche, a qualitative interview study explored the professional trajectories of successful teacher trainers. The paper gives an account of the motivation for continuing professional development (CPD) through the turning points in these professionals' early careers. The findings suggest that there are some similarities behind the motivating factors for CPD and the increasing participation in social spheres (Lave & Wenger, 1991) leads to professional growth. Moving from the periphery towards the centre in a Community of Practice (CoP) the participants of CoPs become knowledge providers. The results reveal that after members have reached their own plateau and can no longer grow professionally in a particular CoP, they either move on to a different, often more challenging CoP and often belong to different CoPs and even end up as the leaders of ELTAs. Limitations and further research suggestions are included at the end of the paper.

One of the reasons attributed to the continuous decline in student performance and low educational outcomes in public schools is the poor leadership displayed by many principals. Despite the fact that there are no stringent criteria for the appointment of school principals or prerequisite qualifications, principals do have the potential to lead and manage efficient and successful schools. In this paper, I argue that principals can develop exemplary leadership practices when subjected to sound training and professional development programmes. The Department of Education and Higher Education institutions have emphasised the importance of formal qualifications for enhancing career development programmes for practicing and aspiring principals in South Africa. Using questionnaires, I explore the perceptions of teachers and school management team (SMT) members of the leadership qualities exhibited by principals who acquired the professional qualification referred to as the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management (ACESLM). Findings revealed that leadership development for principals is crucial for school improvement because of active teaching and learning. Leadership capacity requires principals to participate with relevant stakeholders skilfully, and where there is high leadership capacity, instructional leadership develops into sound leadership practices.

Ofsted's (2021) Curriculum research review for languages (OCRR) draws conclusion on what 'high-quality language education' may look like. This opinion piece problematises the status of these conclusions as 'features' or recommendations. Before delving into a selection of identified 'features' in more depth, the author highlights the complexity of curriculum design and the interdependence between school-based curriculum design and the intended and assessed curricula. This leads to a critical analysis of 'may' statements that directly impact on language teachers, leaders of languages and their approach to curriculum design and pedagogy. These include progress-orientated curriculum design, language assessment and testing (including dictation), communicative strategies, target language and culture through authentic materials as well as transition issues. Furthermore, the opinion piece explores the potential implications the OCRR and its recommendations may have on initial teacher education, early career development and continuous professional development for teachers and leaders. The think piece concludes by calling for a collaborative approach and joint ownership by all stakeholders rather than putting all responsibility on language teachers and language leaders.

The complexity and challenges of higher education (HE) in recent times have been widely discussed in HE literature, as have concomitant demands on university teachers and their professional learning needs. Much attention has been paid to new academics in these conversations, but less so to international PhD and post-doctoral researchers, who are often asked to teach, yet can be precluded from attending foundational pedagogical courses. This paper discusses an interpretive-hermeneutic study based on a pedagogical course developed for new academics in this very situation. Our discussion focuses on professional growth experienced by the course participants in terms of pedagogical "understanding" and "self-confidence," and what enabled that growth from the participants' perspectives. On the basis of analysis of interviews, questionnaires and qualitative course evaluations, we consider the value of such purpose-built courses and offer insights into what may need to be considered by course developers to ensure that their impact is optimal.

This paper focuses on early childhood teachers' professional development in China. It reports a study which aims to elicit twelve in-service early childhood teachers' perspectives of the values and issues of professional development policies and the learning opportunities they experienced. Two themes arising from the study are addressed, namely the teachers' positive responses to the government aspirations for enhancing teaching in early childhood education, and the complexities of the organizational and role structures of the early childhood community in ChangChun where the study took place. An important aspect of the teachers' perspectives of their professional development, which connects up to the early childhood environment in ChangChun, is the view that professional development was oriented to their own employment continuity. Teachers' learning was perceived as a useful means to offset the insecurity of their careers, but not closely related to children's learning.

This personal reflection describes my development as a professor engaged in SoTL, describing the path from an unsure graduate student to an early career faculty member working at an undergraduate university dedicated to excellence in teaching. I was introduced to SoTL at the beginning of my doctoral program and received the necessary support to pursue my research interests in the area of writing and feedback. The mentoring provided by a faculty member during that time ensured that I followed through on my first SoTL research project. Since then, support from a SoTL program at my current institute has allowed me to learn more about SoTL and to take my research in different directions, all the while keeping student learning at the centre of my inquiries.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how instructional support is a critical tool to promote the use of technology in research and teaching. A Campus-Wide Collaborative Model of Technological Instructional Support (CCMTIS) is presented that incorporates: integration of technology across campus; technical assistance; allocation of funding for technical assistance; support of faculty teaching style; and teaching that enhances learning through the use of technology. Design/methodology/approach: The approach presents two case studies, one a large state research university, and the other a small liberal arts college. Findings: Four overlapping themes emerge across the two case studies that demonstrate how: technology can connect classroom learning to career considerations and opportunities; develop writing and communication skills; promote career development through access to job search skills; and encourage professional development among faculty and staff. Research limitations/implications The limitations are that only two specific campus environments are examined. That these are differing environments, however, have implications for the model's application to diverse campus settings. Practical implications: A practical application is that the study demonstrates how the CCMTIS model can be applied to both classroom and campus. This has implications for other universities that may seek to replicate the model on their own campuses. Social implications: The social implications indicate how learning occurs through an instructional support model that promotes collaboration. At the same time, ethical considerations related to instructional support are presented. Originality/value: The manuscript reflects original work based on case studies that reflect the authors' experiences.

Evidence suggests that teachers' visions of their ideal teaching may account for some differences in their development and effectiveness. In this study, we investigate the visions of teachers with differing trajectories of change in their practice. The paper describes trends in teachers' visions in the pre-service and in-service years across one cohort of new teachers. We explore the characteristics of vision for three subgroups based on scores reflecting the quality of their practice: those whose practice improved, those whose practice became weaker, and those whose practice remained stable. Teachers who maintained high practice scores or showed improvement on practice scores held visions characterized by specificity and coherence. Two cases are presented to illustrate the role of vision in beginning teachers' practices. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed.

Faculty development is essential to promote pedagogical innovation and the transformation of teaching practices. The faculty development model presented in this study was guided by three research questions about how scholars engage in institutionally held training opportunities for professional development; how scholars engage with and collaborate within learning communities/communities of practice; and the implications and perceived impacts of such dynamics for the conceptualization of faculty development approaches aimed at community development. The results highlight community development as an interdisciplinary opportunity to reflect, learn, diversify, rethink, envision, and be intentional about pedagogy. A desenvolvimento pedagógico docente no Ensino Superior é essencial para a inovação e transformação das práticas de ensino e aprendizagem. Neste estudo, apresenta-se um modelo de desenvolvimento pedagógico assente três questões de investigação: como se envolvem os docentes em sessões de formação pedagógica da instituição; como se envolvem e colaboram os docentes em comunidades de aprendizagem e prática; quais as implicações e impactos percebidos destas iniciativas no desenvolvimento pedagógico dos docentes e na comunidade académica. Os resultados reforçam o desenvolvimento comunitário, colaborativo e interdisciplinar entre docentes, como uma oportunidade para refletir, aprender, diversificar, repensar, projetar e conferir intencionalidade à pedagogia no Ensino Superior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first offer an analytic perspective on the papers in this volume, framing our discussion within the context of academic development as a discipline and highlighting common lines that cut across the nine contributions. We then offer insights about the current state of research on the evaluation of academic development and suggest directions that are likely to advance our theoretical and empirical knowledge in this area and anchor us firmly in evidence-based practice. We suggest that clarifying the mechanisms of change when professional learning occurs and measuring the changes in student learning outcomes that are associated with professional learning are important avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student ratings of teaching have received much attention in both higher and medical education research. Paramount has been the attention to the robustness of the instruments used to capture these ratings as a source of feedback for teachers. However evidence is scarce with regard to what happens after ratings are fed back to the teachers. This paper will focus on feedback facilitation strategies needed for medical teachers in the workplace setting to improve their teaching. First, the attributes of clinical teaching will be introduced, followed by a disquisition on feedback uptake, and finally reflection as a tool to improve teaching. Second, several recently published strategies aimed at improving clinical teaching through the facilitation of feedback are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we best support instructors to learn, practice, and retain student-centered, active-learning teaching strategies in their undergraduate courses? While approaches like professional development workshops may inspire some, permanent adoption of new pedagogy is rare. Here, we investigate "paired teaching" to achieve adoption and continued use of evidence-based practices. In this model, an instructor with little or no experience in student-centered teaching is paired with an experienced instructor in a semester-long course that has established student-centered pedagogy. This study evaluates information from eight pairs of instructors over a three-year period. Data was collected before, during, and after the paired teaching semester through interviews, written reflections, and teaching observations. Results indicate that paired teaching is beneficial as a professional development model for new instructors who have little teaching experience. The teaching practice of these instructors evolved to be increasingly student-centered, and they continued to use this pedagogy in subsequent classes. More established instructors who were less familiar with active learning showed lower tendencies to incorporate new pedagogies into their existing classes. We suggest best practices to maximize benefits and mitigate challenges associated with paired teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an educational development intervention at McGill University in Canada, three doctoral students specializing in faculty development offered consultation to newly appointed professors with minimal formal pedagogical training. The larger research project from which this study emanates (University Teaching: Meeting Challenges and Demands funded by The Max Bell Foundation) is currently being conducted at three research-intensive universities in Canada (McGill, Queen's, Dalhousie) where new faculty are involved in several pedagogical development activities following an intensive 5-day Course Design and Teaching Workshop (CDTW). During the Winter-2007 academic term, professors delivered the course they designed in the December-2006 CDTW. Three doctoral students, who were also assistants in the CDTW, observed their assigned professors throughout the entire Winter-07 term and provided weekly consultation sessions involving discussion and feedback of classroom observations and related issues. Professors were encouraged to explore the teaching methods outlined in their individual CDTW Course Plan and designed to help their students attain specific learning outcomes. Overall, these weekly observation and consultation sessions were meant to increase professors' awareness of what they do in their classrooms, help them critically evaluate the impact of their teaching, and consider alternatives once they became aware they did not implement their intended plans. The authors wish to acknowledge the Max Bell Foundation of Canada for supporting this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a specific mentoring approach in an academic general internal medicine setting by audiotaping and transcribing all mentoring sessions in the year. In advance, the mentor recorded his model. During the year, the mentee kept a process journal. Qualitative analysis revealed development of an intimate relationship based on empathy, trust, and honesty. The mentor's model was explicitly intended to develop independence, initiative, improved thinking, skills, and self-reflection. The mentor's methods included extensive and varied use of questioning, active listening, standard setting, and frequent feedback. During the mentoring, the mentee evolved as a teacher, enhanced the creativity in his teaching, and matured as a person. Specific accomplishments included a national workshop on professional writing, an innovative approach to inpatient attending, a new teaching skills curriculum for a residency program, and this study. A mentoring model stressing safety, intimacy, honesty, setting of high standards, praxis, and detailed planning and feedback was associated with mentee excitement, personal and professional growth and development, concrete accomplishments, and a commitment to teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: About 70% of teachers who instruct healthcare students are considered sessional (adjunct/temporary part-time) faculty and receive limited instruction in pedagogy. Sessional faculty may feel isolated and struggle with their teacher identity, and are often assumed to vary in their commitment, motivation, and ability to teach. However, research on teaching identity, motivations, and needs of sessional faculty is lacking. The aim of this study was to compare similarities and differences between sessional and tenure-track faculty across a health science school to guide faculty development for sessional faculty. Methods: We developed an online needs assessment survey, based on informal interviews and literature reviews. Seventy-eight tenure-track faculty and 160 sessional faculty completed the survey (37, 25% response rate, respectively). We used validated scales to assess intrinsic motivation, identified regulated motivation, and identification with teaching, as well as developed scales (perceived connectedness, motivated by appreciation to try new teaching method) and single items. All scales demonstrated good internal consistency. We compared sessional and tenure-track faculty using t-tests/chi-square values. Results: We found similarities between sessional and tenure-track faculty in intrinsic motivation, identified regulated motivation, and identification with teaching. However, sessional faculty perceived less department connectedness and were more motivated to improve instruction if shown appreciation for trying new teaching methods. Sessional faculty agreed more that they desired pedagogy instruction before starting to teach and that teachers should invest energy in improving their teaching. Admitting to less participation in activities to enhance teaching in the last year, sessional faculty were more interested in digital formats of faculty development. Conclusion: Our comparison suggested that sessional faculty value being a teacher as part of their self, similar to tenured faculty, but desired more appreciation for efforts to improve and perceived less connectedness to their university department than tenured faculty. They also preferred digital formats for pedagogy to improve accessibility, prior to and throughout their teaching career to support their development as teachers. Using this information as a guide, we provide suggestions for faculty development for sessional faculty. Supporting sessional faculty in the health sciences should improve the quality of teaching and positively affect student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]