Even though much of university life is devoted to teaching and learning, teaching ability is barely rated at third level. The situation, according to a new report on university teaching, is bleak.
One or two institutions give prizes for excellence in teaching, but overall there are remarkably few incentives for good performance, according to Proceedings, the report of the colloquium on university teaching and learning organised by the Irish Universities Training Network last December. The academic profession, the report notes, is almost unique in requiring no formal training in one of its primary roles - teaching. This situation is likely to change, however, since governments and students are calling for the introduction of quality-assurance and quality-improvement programmes. "Group members reported that in most institutions little attention was given to teaching in the granting of tenure or the award of promotion," the report notes. "But, of course, quality research is rewarded - by promotion, by travel, by sabbaticals by fellowships and by prestige.
"In such a situation, it is not surprising that, where the demands of teaching and research conflict, so many choose to emphasise the latter at the expense of the former."
One way to improve the performance of academic staff would be to increase the emphasis on teaching in recruitment and selection procedures. Job advertisements should emphasise the need for high-level teaching skills and recruits should be required to demonstrate the quality of their teaching performance, the report suggests.
However, "requiring short-listed candidates to give demonstration classes is desirable but limited, as the process only evaluates one dimension of teaching and emphasises the importance of lecturing - at the cost, perhaps, of more important and useful methods". At least one referee should be asked to comment on the candidate's teaching experience and quality, the report recommends.
The report rejects arguments that it is impossible to evaluate teaching standards and thereby offer rewards and incentives. "In other parts of the world, teaching is rewarded in various ways, including promotion, the process being based on the vast amount of research available into the evaluation of teaching."
It may be difficult to measure good teaching quantitatively; however, peers, students, graduates and heads of departments represent good sources of valid and reliable information, the report states. Academics are becoming more aware of the need for professional development.
"More insidiously, growing class sizes and worsening staff-student ratios are beginning to lead to breakdowns in the effectiveness of traditional methods of teaching and learning."
Both Britain and Australia, which have education systems very similar to that in this State, are developing programmes for the initial professional development of academic staff. These countries are also in the process of developing nationwide accreditation for these programmes. "Performance development is a broad concept and governments and institutions have key roles and responsibilities in enabling and ensuring improvements in the learning environment," the report asserts. Three areas in which State actions would have an immediate effect in improving academic performance are identified: funding for initial professional development programmes, teaching development grants and the improvement of substandard teaching facilities. "The State requires its doctors, lawyers and engineers to be properly qualified before dealing with the public. Academic staff have at least an equivalent effect on their students spread over many years," the report argues. Other countries, meanwhile, have invested heavily in third-level teaching innovation.
The report points to "serious blackspots" in the physical environment on some campuses. "In some instances, classrooms must be put to uses for which they were not designed and others are shabby and not fit for the purpose. Short of a systematic audit of all teaching and learning space in the country it is impossible to gauge the extent of the problem but it is believed to be serious in some institutions." At institution level, the report highlights the usefulness of regular departmental performance reviews involving external scholars. "Recommendations from such reviews can lead to substantial performance improvement, both individually and collectively." The report stresses however, the necessity of avoiding the excess paperwork and pressure of the British Quality Assessment procedures.
There are some optimistic signs, the report suggests. The HEA has recently funded a project entitled Introduction to Third Level Teaching: Developing and Implementing a Common Core Curriculum, to be co-ordinated by the Irish Universities Training Network.
