Themes+in+Professional+Development


 * Themes in Professional Development

Faculty Development** Sorcinelli et al.
 * 1) Age of the Scholar
 * 2) (1950s--60s) development of faculty revolved largely around improving/advancing scholarship.
 * 3) Development was emphasized in terms of advancing their subject area rather than improving teaching skills
 * 4) Faculty development efforts were focused on improving scholarly competence, but the economic recession and decline in faculty opportunities/mobility forces new interest and improvement.
 * 5) Age of the Teacher
 * 6) (mid 60s-70s) focus shifted to improving teaching
 * 7) Faculty were viewed as having multiple purposes--no longer were they just researchers. There was an emphasis on developing the multidimensional needs of faculty (p. 9).
 * 8) The focus on teaching development was a key to faculty vitality and renewal. This interest included the development of teaching skills/compentencies as well as teacher development and evaluation programs. Included faculty, instructional and organizational development but primary focus was improving teaching.
 * 9) (1974) The Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD Network) is formed to "support improvement in higher education through faculty, instructional, and organizational development activities" (p. 5). (Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)
 * 10) Age of the Developer
 * 11) (1980s) "upsurge in faculty development programs" (p. 3) with increased desire to for measurable output/outcomes
 * 12) Towards the end of the 1980s, the POD network developed A Handbook for New Practitioners which served as a fundamental resource for both new and seasoned faculty developers (p. 18). In 1986, the POD network conducted a survey on institutions with faculty development programs and found significant increases in the efforts of faculty development.
 * 13) Evaluation of faculty members, particularly teachers became a popular concept . Funding was provided to measure the outcomes of teaching and faculty development efforts.
 * 14) Age of the Learner
 * 15) (1990s) "student learning rather than teaching took center stage" -- from 'sage on stage' to 'guide on the side' (p. 3).
 * 16) (jess comment) Another thing I would like to add here (from my personal work in the area) is the increase in use of students to help faculty members. The 1990s saw a rapid growth of student mentors and TAs added into courses. This added another dimension to the age of the learner.
 * 17) The fastest moving change during this age was the introduction of technology in the classroom. The POD network continued to grow through conferences, membership, publications, and through increased focus on teaching centers. Professional development was going global.
 * 18) In addition to student learning, student diversity called for a greater range and variety in teaching and learning methods, skills and sensitivities which had significant implications for faculty development by changing traditional approaches to teaching and learning.
 * 19) Age of the Network
 * 20) (present day) time of growth, heightened expectations & changing environments
 * 21) Development programs are offered in more of a "cafeteria" style, offering something for anyone (p. 14). Those seeking development have the option to have more of an individualized approach or group workshops.
 * 22) Meeting growth, heightened expectations, and changing external and internal environments takes a collaborative effort of all involved in higher education and to respond accordingly to institutional problems with constructive solutions.
 * 23) Interestingly, the UK's Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (launched in 1999) is transformed into the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in 2004. HEA receives funding from the British government. I wonder if that would ever happen here? With the US government becoming more involved in standards-based instruction at the college level, perhaps a positive outcome would be more federal funding, not just for disciplinary research, but for SOTL. (Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)

__GaoLing's comments:__ 1. Faculty development has grown into a global profession from a small network of developers in higher education. It will be situated at the center of colleges and universities’ institutional planning with their increasing of high productivity and quality. Guiding principles and practices are to be enhanced in this profession. Opportunities and challenges exist spontaneously and need to be emphasized. 2. Strategies for professional development that the article covers · Collaboration · Globalization – promote educational or academic development in higher education worldwide · Individual consultations, workshops, orientation, intensive programs, grants and awards, resources and publications · Center for learning and teaching · Committee overseeing faculty development · Lilly Teaching Fellow Program, etc · Instructional technology · Diversity awareness (jess comment) This has definitely been a a "hot topic" and a theme garnering more attention, as should be the case to best reach all students (by SA admins. and faculty), but I wonder just how much real and thorough professional development they get? I could be being a cynic, but I see diversity awareness as so very important to best know our students and to learn how to best reach and teach them, so I would like to read more about types of diversity trainings that occur for faculty and SA professionals. I know that changes have been made to change from traditional approaches, but I believe that more directed efforts should occur. · Training programs for teaching assistants; Preparing future faculty initiatives · Administrative support

__Lisa's comments:__
 * According to Stassen and Sorcinelli, "the boundaries between teaching and learning became more fluid, with collaborations among centers for teaching and learning offices of assessment more common" (p.13) To the extent that teaching and learning was able to connect to assessment (e.g. learning assessment, student learning outcomes, or other student success measures), the role of a faculty developer will continue to expand. I am constanly suprised with how many roles, responsibliites and skill sets a faculty developer must have to keep up with the profession. I suppose this varies by type of institution but for some reason, I feel that community colleges are progressive with teaching and learning and faculty developers are instrumental to creating this organizational and social change within diverse institutions.
 * (jess comment) I agree with the bit about community colleges being more progressive with teaching and learning. I wonder if that is in part due to the fact that Indiana got such a late start with community college creation. They have to move fast to keep up with these organizational and societal changes and accommodate an ever-changing and constantly growing number of students.
 * Hurtado asserts that scholarly research on faculty develpement became inclusive of students, institutions and society and demonstrated that teaching was a movement toward multiculturalism in the curriculum.
 * Sorcinelli et al.also mention the need to teach and prepare future faculty. This initiative is significant to the professoriate because teaching is not inherant and change with every generation of students. The role of faculty has evolved from dissemanator of knowledge to innovative and collaborative learning, inclusive teaching, and student learning assessment and outcomes. Currently, I'm participating in a preparing future faculty course, where we are learning about new generations of students and how faculty are responsible for knowing their students and how they learn. Infusing technology, animations, poetry, art, and any other multimedia form are some examples of how we must learn to teach new generations of students. For this reason, faculty development programs have evolved and focused on the "Age of the Learner" and the "Age of the Network", which are increasingly important in teaching and learning and what an institution can offer its faculty and students (Sorcinelli et al., 2006).

__salebeau__ - A general overview of how the focus of professional development has changed over the years. - Interesting to see that load adjustments (course releases) have a hitory back to the "age of the scholar" - 50's & 60's. - I think the use of the word "network" to describe the current age is fine, but a bit limiting. my first thought was the age of the web. This includes 2 different connotations the networking element and the use of technology. I also thought of the digital age, but rejected it.

__Kristin's thoughts__
 * The article serves as a great resource for professional development and I like the fact that it highlights and outlines all the organizations.
 * I too question the "Age of the Network" term. I agree that faculty expectations are increasing along with work load. In order to balance work and life, something will have to give. We must take advantage of networking and all of the technology available to us. However, I question the perceived effectiveness of this strategy. Based upon my understanding of the personality types of many faculty members, many prefer to work alone. A large portion of faculty members are not overly social creatures. Yes, we rely upon email too much and tend to work alone or in small groups. In general, how is networking going to help combat the expectations and work load?

Janosik et al.
 * Student Affairs and Academic Support Staff Development**

Slow acknowledgment of the importance of professional development Lack of consensus about goals Lack of resources for development Power issues Unclear role of professional organizations Most professions require continuing professional development (ie: Doctors and Lawyers) Before intentional professional development programs are created, assessment needs to be performed to determine what the profession's competencies are
 * Janosik et al. state that "concerns have been raised about the need for and the ramifications of certification efforts in the field of student affairs" (2006, p. 140). I am interested to hear more about this perspective. It seems that the authors' work illustrates a need (without having heard the other side). But, what are some of the concerns about ramifications? Without reading more about this issue, initially I could see theoretical consistency as a challenge. In the field of career services, for example, there are a wide variety of certifications that can be obtained. Some use a traditional psychological counseling foundation, while others focus on education and student development theories. In my experience, both theoretical traditions can be helpful in working with students, and I think both are equally valid approaches. I assume that it will be the task of the professional organizations to allow room for both of these perspectives to be honored. (Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)
 * As budgets are cut, it seems that resources for professional development, especially in student affairs, are the first to go. One immediate advantage of standardizing and certifying student affairs professionals is that universities would be forced to commit resources to it. This could also lead to sharing more information about new programs and best practices. (Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)

Study showed the following interesting tidbits: Respondents showed a great interest in voluntary certfication and more intentional prof. development To a lesser extent, respondents were interested in establish a career development transcript In all, respondents were very enthusiastic about professional development, wanted to participate, were supported by their institutions. More white females holding Master's degrees working as entry level practitioners at large 4-year institutions. I suspect the educational level of the respondents impacted the survey results. 68% of the respondents held a graduate degree and I would hypothesis that individuals who achieve advanced degrees would also be the ones more interested in pursuing professional development opportunities (survey respondents yielded 98% with bachelors would support professional development and 94% with master's degrees. On the other hand, 86% with terminal degrees supported professional development. Perhaps they feel they have maxed out their development opportunities?) Item number 1 on page 143 suggests placing responsibility for professional development in the hands of central staff and executive directors. I find this problematic as they do not believe in professional development as strongly as others do (see pg. 142). Institutional size did not impact study results The authors note the small effect size. Although the results were significant, "the interpretation of their practical significance may be limited" (Janosik, Carpenter, & Creamer, 2006, p. 144).

__GaoLing's comments__ 1. Little progress has been made in ensuring quality of intentional professional development for various reasons, for example, lack of consensus about what constitutes appropriate professional practice, etc. Student affairs professionals are in the absence of special guidance.  2. S trategies for professional development that the article covers. · Develop a professional development curriculum · Offer programs based on curriculum · Earning credits and recording professional development activities ·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Creating career development transcript ·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Seeking voluntary professional certification ·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Model of intentional continuing professional development 1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Profession driven 2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Peer reviewed 3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Research based 4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Accessible to all 5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Responsive to diversity 6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Voluntary 7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;"> Challenging

__salebeau__ - First let me admit that I was a bit disappointed in this article. THis article does not include a copy of hte survey questions (I searched online to try and find it, but no luck). The conclusions drawn from the survey seems to be solid, but almost obvious. Student affairs professionals would appreciate more training and certification to be available in their field. Individuals in this group who might have more challenges (gender, race, lower degree) are slightly more inclined to see training as a positive. - The conlusion that professional organizations should assist in the development of their constituents is very clear and I certainly agree. - I wondered about options to the Continuing education credits. I have know quite a few people who were required to have these and I have doubts about their value in long-term education. - Let me say again. I agree with the conclusions of the article on a personal level but would have liked to see the data to fairly judge the value of this survey as it seems very general and focus solely for the audience that would most benefit from any changes to the current policy.

__Kristin's thoughts__
 * I think that we can all agree that working student affairs is a profession and should be perceived as such from administration (allowing for continuing education). My thought on this article is that the results were not shocking in any way. I don't think it measured quality but rather focused on quantity. Just because there are a lot of programs available doesn't mean they are all quality programs. For example, allowing faculty to take sabbaticals versus having consultants or paying for professional development are very different.
 * I question whom is responsible for the development of programs. The authors feel professional associations should take on the task. However, as we have seen budget cuts and feel as thought administation might be unwilling to pay for professionals to attend association meetings, I don't think this is an effective plan. I feel as though the importance of this needs to be realized on a campus level.
 * On another side note... I think that clearly defined career paths make this subject even more difficult. It contributes to a lack of understanding or appreciation from administration. It also takes away from the profession in general in my opinion.