Situating academic development in professional work: Using peer learning

The casualisation of teaching and the subject at risk

“…This is not to say that formal certification does not have an important place in the professional pathways of casual teachers, but rather a focus on fostering peer learning opportunities in situated teaching communities (Boud, 1999) is more likely to result in powerful professional learning for the individual and greater quality enhancement for the organisation . It is also far more difficult to establish, maintain and 'measure'.…”

“…Having said this, it is now widely recognised that the traditional notion of professional development as 'teaching development', formal workshops and a focus on the individual academic's teaching expertise have only limited efficacy (Boud, 1999;Knight, 2006;Osborn, 1999;Visovic, 2006), and that broader notions of professional formation are required (Akerlind, 1999). This is not to say that formal certification does not have an important place in the professional pathways of casual teachers, but rather a focus on fostering peer learning opportunities in situated teaching communities (Boud, 1999) is more likely to result in powerful professional learning for the individual and greater quality enhancement for the organisation .…”

“…Research into professional formation, much of which currently draws on social learning, social constructivist and socio-cultural theory to understand professional learning largely as engagement or co-participation in non-formal workplace affordances, has emphasised the situated and social nature of learning as occurring through collegial, collaborative, supportive communities of practice (Boud, 1999;Eib & Miller, 2006;Knight, Tait, & Yorke, 2006;Mittendorff, Geijsel, Hoeve, de Laat, & Nieuwenhuis, 2006;Visovic, 2006). Knight et al (2007) argue for the need to view 'professional formation' as an holistic and 'ecological' process that can and should be supported within the learning communities where casual teaching staff are engaged.…”

“…We might explain this as the application of an old solution to a new problem. The traditional or received view of professional development which emerged during the 1970s with the professionalisation of teaching in higher education and the privileging of 'formal' over 'non-formal' learning is based on research largely driven by central teaching and learning units (Akerlind, 1999;Boud, 1999;Hager, 2004). Taking some issue with this, Erica McWilliam (2002) argues that the imperative for staff to engage in all forms of 'professional development' is based on the assumption that 'academics are deficient as teachers and that professional development can deal with that deficiency' where 'local academic enactments of pedagogical work can come to be framed as a form of ignorance, to be overcome with the application of new techniques' (p. 295).…”

Towards a framework for Knowledge Management in Project Management

“…For example, both Garrick's (1998) analysis of the building industry and Boud's (1999) consideration of the academic profession suggest that informal interactions with peers are predominant ways of learning and that the impact of formal training on practice can be quite marginal. Secondly, it has been argued that the person who is nominally expected by organisations to foster learning in the project team-the project manager-may be unable to do so effectively because of the structural constraints of their role.…”