Creating an Intentional Career Path: The Journey from Graduate Teaching Associate to Educational Developer

  • Suzanne Le-May Sheffield
  • Jill Marie McSweeney
  • Susan Joudrey
Living reference work entry
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:
Part of the University Development and Administration book series (UDAA)

Abstract

The role of the Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) can be critical to supporting the work of teaching centers and may provide graduate students with a path into educational development (ED). At a time when many graduate students will not find traditional, tenure-track faculty positions, we must begin to examine how these teaching center roles can prepare graduate students for future ED work and what we can do to help them transition into a position in the field. Through a collaborative auto ethnographic approach, this chapter explores three educational developers’ journeys into ED and how the profession can begin to systematically prepare graduate students for a career in ED.

Keywords

Educational Development Educational Developers Graduate Teaching Associate Graduate student Collaborative autoethnography Career path Apprenticeship Professional identity Teaching center Higher education Teaching and learning 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Bédard, D., M. Clement, and K.L. Taylor. 2010. Validation of a conceptual framework: The meaning and scope of educational development. In Building teaching capacities in higher education: A comprehensive international model, ed. A. Saroyan and M. Frenay, 168–187. Sterling: Stylus.Google Scholar
  2. Carpenter, J. 2008. Metaphors in qualitative research: Shedding light or casting shadows? Research in Nursing & Health 31: 275–282.Google Scholar
  3. Chang, H., F.W. Ngunjiri, and K.C. Hernandez. 2013. Collaborative autoethnography. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.Google Scholar
  4. Dawson, D., J. Britnell, and A. Hitchcock. 2010. Developing competency models of faculty developers: Using world café to foster dialogue. In To improve the academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development, ed. L.B. Nilson and J.E. Miller, vol. 28, 3–24. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  5. Denzin, N. 2013. Interpretive autoethnography. In Handbook of autoethnography, ed. S. Holman Jones, T. Adams, and C. Ellis, 123–142. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.Google Scholar
  6. Denzin, N. 2014. Interpretive autoethnography. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Ellis, C. 2009. Revision: Autoethnographic reflections on life and work. Walnut Creek: Left Coast.Google Scholar
  8. Ellis, C., T.E. Adams, and A.P. Bochner. 2011. Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 12 (1): Art.10.Google Scholar
  9. Felten, P., Kalish, A. and Pingree, A. and Plank, K.M. 2007. 6: Toward a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Educational Development. To Improve the Academy 25 (1):93–108.Google Scholar
  10. Fraser, K. 1999. Australasian academic developers: Entry into the profession and our own professional development. International Journal for Acadmic Development 4 (2): 89–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Gibbs, G. 2013. Reflections on the changing nature of educational development. International Journal for Academic Development 18 (1): 4–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Gosling, D., J. McDonald, and D. Stockley. 2007. We did it our way! Narratives of pathways to the profession of educational development. Educational Development 8 (4): 1.Google Scholar
  13. Green, D.A., and D. Little. 2015. Family portrait: A profile of educational developers around the world. International Journal for Academic Development 21 (2): 135–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Kensington-Miller, B., I. Brailsford, and P. Gossman. 2012. Developing new academic developers: Doing before being? International Journal for Academic Development 17 (2): 121–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Kensington-Miller, B., J. Renc-Roe, and S. Morón-García. 2015. The chameleon on a tartan rug: Adaptations of three academic developers’ professional identities. International Journal for Academic Development 20 (3): 279–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Leibowitz, B. 2014. Reflections on academic development: What is in a name? International Journal for Academic Development 19 (4): 357–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Linder, K.E., Stephanie V. Rohdieck, Alan Kalish, Teresa A. Johnson, Kathrun M. Plank, Laurie A. Maynell. 2011. Graduate student internships as a pathway to the profession of educational development. In To improve the academy, ed. J.E. Miller and J.E. Groccia, vol. 30. San Fransico: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  18. Maldonado, V., R. Wiggers, and C. Arnold. 2013. So you want to earn a PhD? The attraction, realities, and outcomes of pursuing a doctorate. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.Google Scholar
  19. McDonald, J. 2010. Charting pathways into the field of educational development. New Directions for Teaching and Learning 2010 (122): 37–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. McDonald, J., and D. Stockley. 2008. Pathways to the profession of educational development: An international perspective. International Journal for Academic Development 12 (3): 213–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Ngunjiri, F.W., K.C. Hernandez, and H. Chang. 2010. Living autoethnography: Connecting life and research [Editorial]. Journal of Research Practice 6 (1): Article E1.Google Scholar
  22. O’Sullivan, P.S., C. Mkony, J. Beard, and D.M. Irby. 2016. Identity formation and motivation of new faculty developers: A replication study in a resource constrained university. Medical Teacher 38: 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Quinn, L., and J. Vorster. 2014. Isn’t it time to start thinking about ‘developing’ academic developers in a more systematic way? International Journal for Academic Development 19 (3): 255–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Rose, M. 2012. Graduate student professional development: A survey with recommendations. Ottawa: Canadian Association for Graduate Studies.Google Scholar
  25. Shay, S. 2012. Educational development as a field: Are we there yet? Higher Education Research & Development 31 (3): 311–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Sorcinelli, M.D., A. Austin, P.L. Eddy, and A.L. Beach. 2006. Creating the future of faculty development: Learning from the past, understanding the present. Bolton: Anker.Google Scholar
  27. Stefani, L. 1999. On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey. International Journal for Academic Development 4 (2): 102–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Timmermans, J.A. 2014. Identifying threshold concepts in the careers of educational developers. International Journal for Academic Development 19 (4): 305–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Vorster, J., and L. Quinn. 2015. Towards shaping the field: Theorising the knowledge in a formal course for academic developers. Higher Education Research & Development 34 (5): 1031–1044.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Suzanne Le-May Sheffield
    • 1
  • Jill Marie McSweeney
    • 1
  • Susan Joudrey
    • 1
  1. 1.Dalhousie UniversityHalifaxCanada

Personalised recommendations