Abstract
The aim of the current investigation was to provide an insight into how new lecturers in higher education develop as teachers and to identify some of the main influences upon this development. A qualitative, longitudinal design with three semi-structured interviews over a 2-year period was employed with eleven new teachers from a range of higher education institutions and settings. The analysis used case studies, alongside a thematic analysis, to provide fine-grained and idiosyncratic insights into the teachers’ development. The principal finding from the current study was the identification that instances of interactions with students, acted as a core influence upon the new teachers’ development. These instances appeared to provide the teachers with richer and fuller feedback about their teaching. This feedback supported their reflection and influenced the way in which they thought about teaching. Based on these findings it is suggested that teacher development could be enhanced by focussing upon specific instances of interactions with students as these instances provide specific and tangible moments that allow individuals to reflect upon and discuss their conceptions of teaching.
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Thanks must go to Prof. Dai Hounsell, Teaching Leaning and Assessment Centre at Edinburgh University and Dr. Velda McCune, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Glasgow, for their assistance with the data analysis and helpful comment on drafts of this paper.
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Sadler, I. The influence of interactions with students for the development of new academics as teachers in higher education. High Educ 64, 147–160 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9545-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9545-0