Levers for Change in Educational Development in Canada: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Abstract

This paper examines levers or drivers that have influenced the direction of educational development in Canada over the last 40 years and also tries to predict what will be the impact of some currentn 2016 I retired from 36 years of working in the field of educational development at Western University. This gave me the opportunity to both reflect on the institutional and national change levers that had influenced the direction the profession has taken in Canada over the decades, and to consider what trends might impact us in the next 20 years. Using Western University as a case study in this essay I will examine models of educational development that have influenced the work we do as educational developers, provide a short history of educational development in Canada, and explore those drivers both past and future that have served to shape our profession. Models of educational developmentFraser, Gosling and Sorcinelli (2010) state that there are three primary models of educational development that have framed educational development over the last 35 years. The first model focuses on the individual where the problems being addressed are often at the classroom level. This includes work on course design, review of student feedback, or classroom visits, and is often designed to help instructors develop teaching competence. The second model of educational development concentrates on the institution or organization. This model is more about educational developers facilitating organizational change. Educational development activities are therefore more related to institutional priorities. The final model of educational development emphasizes outcomes at the post-secondary sector level. This model looks at national or provincial concerns with a focus on accountability and the need to provide stronger student outcomes and ensure a high quality of education. As I reviewed each decade of educational development I reflected on which model was dominant at my institution at that time.

Continued growth, increasing complexity: Examining the evolving role of the Canadian educational developer

“…The United States opened its first educational development centre at the University of Michigan in 1962 (Lee, 2010) and Canada had its first centre open a few years later at McGill University in 1969 (Wilcox, 1997), with many universities and colleges following suit across North America (Knapper, 2003;Shore, 1974). As class sizes increased and student evaluations of teacher competence became a focus, over the years these centres increased in capacity and influence to offer further support in these areas (Dawson, 2017). Today, educational development centres are engaged in a myriad of different forms of assistance, from teaching strategies and curriculum development to institutional management of learning via planning and policy (D'Andrea & Gosling, 2001;Knapper, 2010).…”