Abstract:

Postsecondary educators in Canada are hired to teach based on their subject matter expertise and are seldom required to have prior formal education in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Their on-going professional learning as educators is therefore of instrumental importance to the quality of learning opportunities they offer students. Centres for teaching and learning have been established and mandated by university and college administrations, at institutions throughout Canada, to provide on-going faculty development opportunities. But these services often report low participation rates in their workshops, consultations, seminars, mentorship programs, and retreats. Despite the high quality of professional development opportunities offered by educational researchers and educational developers in these centres for teaching and learning, outreach to faculty colleagues remains challenging. Through a national online survey and subsequently, through individual video-conference interviews with faculty, administrators, and educational developers, this narrative inquiry examined the perspectives, contexts, experiences, and initiatives of colleagues in postsecondary educational institutions in Canada. In particular, this paper explores emerging faculty learning modalities, asking in what ways faculty members are engaging in their own professional learning and how a better understanding of their engagement may inform educational leaders and the often hierarchical structures within institutions of higher education.

Keywords:

Faculty development, teaching and learning, educational leadership, postsecondary, professional development, educational development.