Educational development is a growing and vibrant field, defined as:
“helping colleges and universities function effectively as teaching
and learning communities” (Felten, Kalish, Pingree, & Plank, 2007,
p. 93)
actions “aimed at enhancing teaching” (Amundsen & Wilson, 2012, p. 90)
a “key lever for ensuring institutional quality and supporting
institutional change” (Sorcinelli, Austin, Eddy & Beach, 2005, p.
xi).Educational Leadership training china
What all of these definitions have in common is the enhancement of
the work of colleges and universities, often with a focus on teaching
and learning. The POD Network prefers the term “educational development”
(instead of, for example, “faculty development”) because, according to
Past President Deandra Little (2014), it better “encompasses the breadth
of work we do,” including levels (individual, program, and
institutional) and key audiences (graduate students, faculty,
postdoctoral scholars, administrators, organizations) served.
“Educational development” is the most inclusive term for POD Network
members’ work, which encompasses a number of subfields, described
below:
Faculty/Graduate Student/Postdoc Development
Faculty, graduate student, and postdoctoral scholar development
refers to those programs which focus on the individual instructor or
future faculty member. Specialists in this area provide consultation on
teaching, including class organization, evaluation of students, in-class
teaching methods, active learning strategies, emerging teaching and
learning technologies, and all aspects of design and presentation. They
also advise instructors on other aspects of teacher/student interaction,
such as advising, tutoring, discipline policies and administration.
An additional frequent focus of such programs is the instructor as a
scholar and professional. These programs offer assistance in career
planning, professional development in scholarly skills such as grant
writing, publishing, committee work, administrative work, supervisory
skills, and a wide range of other activities expected of faculty. For
graduate and professional students, these programs might take the shape
of Preparing Future Faculty or Preparing Future Professionals, designed
to prepare them for future career directions.
A third area on which these programs focus is the instructor as a
person. This focus includes wellness management, interpersonal skills,
stress and time management, assertiveness development and a host of
other programs that address the individual’s well-being.
While not all faculty and graduate student/postdoc development
programs include all these areas, most take a holistic view of faculty
work, with the philosophy that assisting individual instructors in being
as productive and effective as possible will strengthen the entire
institution.
