Communities and scholarship in supporting early-career academics at the University of the Witwatersrand

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4097844
AutoresRuksana Osman (0000-0002-1066-7664, University of the Witwatersrand, autor de correspondencia), D J Hornsby (0000-0003-3103-1937, University of the Witwatersrand)
Año2016
Volumen41
Número10
Páginas1835-1853
Fecha de publicación2016-10-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075079.2016.1221659
OpenAlexW2519444173
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas28

The present paper reports on early-career academics’ (ECAs) experiences of support for teaching in a research-intensive university in Africa. Through conducting a questionnaire and follow up in-depth interviews greater insight into how ECAs perceive and experience support for developing their teaching practice, is gained. Our analysis suggests that most academics interviewed began their first teaching position with no preparation for all that teaching involves. Many struggled to balance the demands associated with teaching and research, in addition to familiarizing oneself with institutional teaching norms and cultures. Almost all found support from within their discipline, although such support was incidental and spontaneous rather than planned. We offer the idea of communities of practice as an approach to institutionalize support for ECAs and draw on the scholarship of teaching and learning as the theoretical framing for this study and experience from a South African institution

Faculty Development · Higher education · Institution · Pedagogy · Political science · Professional development · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Psychology · Reflective Practices in Education