“Being a topic expert is not sufficient”: a mixed-method analysis of teaching dynamics at the Tasmania police academy

“Insufficient guidance and a lack of preparation”: Police academy training and the reality of police work

“…Linking training to strategic or operational developments may be beneficial to a police organisation's overall plan, however, it is argued that police academy training needs to be evidence-based and intrinsically aligned to real-life practices and the functions of police (Clarke & Armstrong, 2012;Miles-Johnson & Pickering, 2018). Police academy training should, therefore, equip recruits to make balanced decisions informed by operational guidelines and legislation, and to act in a professional manner befitting the organisation (O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019;Rogers & Wintle, 2020).…”

“…Many Australian police academies, however, are missing the mark, and are not cognisant of the best way to train recruits as they transition from a civilian into a sworn police officer with powers to control others (Miles-Johnson, 2019). Australian police academies are beset with problems regarding turnover of training staff and a lack of economic resources and changes in management (O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019). They are challenged by how best to train recruits regarding ongoing occupational competence, when more senior officers often have truculent attitudes towards reinstruction and retraining and inundate recruits with explicit stories and implicit messages about unethical behaviour and negative attitudes about police work (Miles-Johnson, 2019;Miles-Johnson & Pickering, 2018).…”

Departing from anonymous and quantitative student feedback: Fostering learning and teaching development through student evaluations

“…The Tasmania Police -University of Tasmania partnership follows this trend, and has been governed most recently under the Australia New Zealand Police Professionalisation Strategy (ANZPAA, 2012). Now in its 26th year, it is the longest-running police-academic partnership across all Australian states and territories (Bradley, 1996;Julian & Adams, 2010;O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019;Riley et al, 2017). It sets itself in stark contrast of generally negative literature about such partnerships, which have notoriously labelled universities as ivory-towers that feed on government education schemes (the "uneasy co-existence of practitioners with academics", O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019, p. 101).…”

“…Education designers and academics had been flagging, for a few years, the rise in critiques about student evaluations as per international literature and research. From a more organisational point of view, police academies must be seen as a higher education microcosm: a small scale representation of the university, dedicated to the tertiary qualification of police officers, their professional advancement, and research capacities (Julian & Adams, 2010;O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019;Riley et al, 2017). It is only natural, then, to observe the same dynamics as for 'conventional' students, especially in terms of teaching and learning evaluations, which went from the extremes of the more than occasional venting or extreme congratulations, to derogatory comments towards staff (sometimes outside the context of teaching and learning).…”

“…In the same vein, conducting surveys daily needs some analysis and commentary, and some reflection on whether this is transferable to a university context. At the academy, police officer educators apply for a transfer from operational duties to a teaching position based on many personal and professional factors, some of them not always relating to teaching and education (Bumback, 2011;O'Shea & Bartkowiak-Théron, 2019). A passion for, a knowledge of, or skills in the facilitation of learning in an academic environment are rarely the driving factor(s).…”