I became a senior lecturer in a teacher training institution in 2018. The transition followed a two-decade-long career as a secondary school English teacher, advanced skills teacher and senior leader responsible for teaching and learning, among other things. In schools, I’d worked with development planning, data and professional development design rooted in educational research to impact teaching practice and improve outcomes. Yet, when I started to work in higher education, I was considered a novice.
Effective induction is essential, obviously, for all staff, but Higher Education Academy Fellowship content, for example, is considered entry-level to the average former schoolteacher-turned-lecturer. Of course, we need a way to ensure that disciplinary experts can apply their fields’ signature pedagogy. And of course, those new to the sector should gain a qualification to build their proficiency as, dare I say it, teachers. But teachers should be central to these processes. Here’s why.
The untapped knowledge of teachers-turned-lecturers
I have grabbed any opportunities to learn more about higher education pedagogy: the difference between a lesson, a seminar and a lecture, different approaches to assessment and feedback, and more. I completed a master’s while working at a school to embed my practice firmly within my research. I completed a doctorate in education while working as a lecturer, absorbing the practices in my new setting. I am not unique. This is the daily experience of my colleagues in schools, institutes and faculties of education.
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Teachers-turned-lecturers are experienced in translating theory into practice. They have intimate knowledge of approaches to specific curriculum areas and levels.
Although universities seek to foreground the scholarship of teaching and learning, the instructional model is still largely built on the status of the disciplinary expert rather than pedagogical skill. Schools have evolved in high-stakes contexts, meaning that the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies are embedded in development plans which see them translate into the progress and achievement of learners directly. A teacher’s choice in pedagogical approach is influenced by:
- the experience of teaching the topic
- the learners
- the time of day or year
- the institution-aligned strategies they think will make the biggest difference to the most students.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is ingrained in a schoolteacher’s DNA. They are accustomed to research-informed growth and a feedback loop of continuing diagnosis that uses assessment to identify misconceptions and adapt instruction in real time. Trained to be perceptive, their extensive toolkits for managing classroom dynamics and student engagement are all complemented by extensive experience in mentoring and coaching as the default entry process to the profession. By viewing these colleagues as expert practitioners, rather than “novices” to the academy, higher education staff can begin to challenge and extend their methods. The following questions I have used throughout my teaching career can serve as a starting point.
Translating theory into practice
• Why have I selected this specific approach for this cohort at this point in this curriculum?
• What pedagogical theory informs the approach I am choosing and why am I selecting it for this group of students right now?
Leading teaching and learning
• How does my teaching design contribute to the strategic, institution-wide goals for student outcomes?
• How have I adapted my approaches to teaching and learning to align with my faculty or school’s development plan?
Continuing professional development
• Is my professional, pedagogical growth part of my DNA or am I only developing my practice when mandated?
• What is the most recent piece of educational research I have read and how has it changed my teaching?
• How is my pedagogical development considered as part of the usual systems for performance review? What am I actively working on right now to improve my teaching?
Continuous diagnosis: the feedback loop
• Before teaching, have I identified likely misconceptions that have hampered previous students or that I know are the most challenging aspects of the content? How have I planned to pre-emptively address them?
• How have I planned the learning to provide me with insight into my students’ immediate and ongoing learning needs?
• Does my assessment design provide feedback on the effectiveness of my teaching, or does it measure performance, not learning?
Noticing
• How have I planned the learning experience to be engaging and make students “want” to learn?
• Am I paying attention to students’ body language, whether they are disconnected on phones or talking to each other, or am I primarily focused on my content delivery?
• What strategies do I use to re-engage students when attention starts to wane?
Mentoring and coaching
• When was the last time I engaged in a structured coaching conversation about my teaching that went beyond simple or formal observation?
• How can I better use colleagues’ practical support to develop my own and others’ teaching?
These are among the many questions that school and further education teachers use to improve their practice. Teachers-turned-lecturers are repositories of theoretical knowledge and practical strategies, so if you have colleagues in your department with teaching experience outside the academy, reach out to them for more tools and insights into how to better support your students.
Gordon Baillie is a senior lecturer in education practice: secondary English at the University of Chester.
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