Preparing Academics to Teach: Example of a Structured Method of Preparing Doctoral Students in Business Programs to Teach

Abstract

<jats:p> The qualifications of academics to teach students are often left unquestioned. Current accreditation standards, for an academic to teach, are typically determined by courses taken, certifications or degrees obtained, and/or industry experience. Doctoral programs are inconsistent in their approaches to formal instruction in pedagogy and their degree of emphasis on teaching skills assessment beyond the typical student teaching evaluations. Furthermore, in many instances, doctoral students begin teaching while they are still in their doctoral program without any formal training. We aim to address this institutionalized deficiency by providing a concise and actionable framework for teaching doctoral students how to teach that can serve as a template for other business school doctoral programs seeking to implement a doctoral teaching seminar. We provide an example of a doctoral teaching seminar in a College of Business developed to train doctoral students in five teaching competencies intended to ensure they are able to provide quality instruction to university students. In doing so, we explain the assignments and then provide evidence of the assignments’ effectiveness as well as the teaching seminar’s overall effectiveness. </jats:p>

An Empirical Investigation of Mental Illness, Impostor Syndrome, and Social Support in Management Doctoral Programs

“…For example, laissez faire leadership styles have been found to lead to mental illness while an inspiring leadership style lowers the risk of mental illness (Levecque et al, 2017). Faculty can involve doctoral students in their teaching, a common area in which doctoral students experience impostor syndrome, to improve confidence when doctoral students begin teaching (Bonner et al, 2020). Faculty can also enhance the frequency and quality of communication with students, such as setting goals and regularly meeting to discuss hurdles in achieving those goals (Cornér et al, 2017; Evans et al, 2018).…”

Teaching Philosophy Statements

“…Bonner et al (2020) propose developing a teaching philosophy as one of five key competencies for early career academics learning how to teach. Acknowledging Beatty et al’s (2009b) point that “[t]he process of reflection required to create and periodically revise a statement .…”

“…. promotes self-awareness,” (p. 100), Bonner et al (2020) propose that the process of developing a teaching philosophy trains early career academics to engage in iterative reflection and continuous improvement. Hawk and Shah (2014) note that developing and reviewing teaching philosophies is critical for both early career and more experienced academics, and use Beatty et al’s work in articulating a model that encourages faculty to question their assumptions and adopt an ethical position.…”

“…The second strand of enquiry that emerged in the teaching philosophy literature spawned by Beatty et al (2009aBeatty et al ( , 2009b explores how those who are new to teaching develop their initial teaching philosophy and practice. Early career academics are often confronted with the need to propose a teaching philosophy and demonstrate aligned practice when they apply for academic positions (Bonner et al, 2020;Greer et al, 2016;Hawk & Shah, 2014). Despite this employment requirement, early career academics rarely begin their teaching careers with a considered teaching philosophy and practice framework to implement and evaluate (Gray et al, 2019;Hawk & Shah, 2014).…”

“…Despite this employment requirement, early career academics rarely begin their teaching careers with a considered teaching philosophy and practice framework to implement and evaluate (Gray et al, 2019;Hawk & Shah, 2014). Thus, a range of research has investigated the role of graduate student education to fill this gap for early career academics (e.g., Andersson & Onarheim, 2015;Bonner et al, 2020;Hawk & Shah, 2014). Bonner et al (2020) propose developing a teaching philosophy as one of five key competencies for early career academics learning how to teach.…”