Hampering teaching excellence? Academics making decisions in the face of contradictions

Brew, A; Boud, D; Lucas, L; Crawford, K

Hampering teaching excellence? Academics making decisions in the face of contradictions

Brew, A Boud, D

Lucas, L Crawford, K

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Publisher:: Routledge
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Studies in Higher Education, 2021
Issue Date:: 2021

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Brew, A
dc.contributor.author	Boud, D https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6883-2722
dc.contributor.author	Lucas, L
dc.contributor.author	Crawford, K
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-09T03:07:50Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-09T03:07:50Z
dc.date.issued	2021
dc.identifier.citation	Studies in Higher Education, 2021
dc.identifier.issn	0307-5079
dc.identifier.issn	1470-174X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147922
dc.description.abstract	© 2020 Society for Research into Higher Education. Universities might aspire to teaching excellence, but do they enable academic teachers to make good teaching decisions? Using a critical realist perspective, a qualitative interview study in England and Australia explored academics’ experiences of teaching decisions and their responses to strategic, institutional and departmental teaching policy and planning. Complex and contradictory conditions that challenged academics’ experiences of teaching and prevented effective decision-making were found. The paper identifies aspects of university functioning that act to prevent the achievement of teaching excellence. It argues that excellence in teaching requires coherent and integrated approaches and commitment right across the institution. For this to happen, universities need to consider how stated strategic learning and teaching ambitions are communicated, implemented, supported and, importantly, how they are understood and enacted throughout all levels and areas of the organisation, including many that hitherto do not consider they have a role in learning and teaching.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Routledge
dc.relation.ispartof	Studies in Higher Education
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/03075079.2020.1828327
dc.rights	“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in [Studies in Higher Education, 2021], available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2020.1828327]”
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1301 Education Systems, 1303 Specialist Studies in Education
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.title	Hampering teaching excellence? Academics making decisions in the face of contradictions
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1301 Education Systems
utslib.for	1303 Specialist Studies in Education
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/FASS Faculty Administration
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2021-04-09T03:07:49Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

© 2020 Society for Research into Higher Education. Universities might aspire to teaching excellence, but do they enable academic teachers to make good teaching decisions? Using a critical realist perspective, a qualitative interview study in England and Australia explored academics’ experiences of teaching decisions and their responses to strategic, institutional and departmental teaching policy and planning. Complex and contradictory conditions that challenged academics’ experiences of teaching and prevented effective decision-making were found. The paper identifies aspects of university functioning that act to prevent the achievement of teaching excellence. It argues that excellence in teaching requires coherent and integrated approaches and commitment right across the institution. For this to happen, universities need to consider how stated strategic learning and teaching ambitions are communicated, implemented, supported and, importantly, how they are understood and enacted throughout all levels and areas of the organisation, including many that hitherto do not consider they have a role in learning and teaching.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147922