Sustained faculty development is essential for promoting student success and professional learning and collaboration among faculty.
Most faculty live isolated lives, lacking opportunities to learn new teaching strategies or discuss innovative practices with colleagues from different disciplines. Although experts in their respective disciplines, faculty often lack deep learning in evidence-based and culturally responsive teaching strategies. They learn through trial and error, with little feedback or input from others except in high-stakes evaluation and tenure processes which don’t encourage deep learning or experimentation. Moreover, individual professional learning is often pursued without a specific direction or campus-wide focus.
This article comes from the new issue of the Community College Journal, published by the American Association of Community Colleges.
However, sustained and ongoing faculty development through the establishment of a teaching and learning center can provide opportunities for deep and meaningful learning. Designing and starting an effective teaching and learning center requires a deep dive into the needs of the faculty, the values of the college and creating a sustainable structure that can be flexible to ongoing and emerging needs.
Designing faculty development
To design effective faculty development, a team of full- and part-time faculty engaged in innovative teaching practices from across disciplines and other campus stakeholders should be assembled to provide input and guidance throughout the process, resulting in a greater sense of faculty buy-in that the learning will be relevant and meaningful.
Using tools like the Center for Teaching and Learning Matrix from the American Council on Education equip the design team with a framework to assess, design and implement evidence-based practices for faculty development. Executive-level champions provide essential support for the faculty design team such as funding, space, resources and alignment to the college’s goals and values. After assessing the professional learning needs and interests of faculty through surveys and focus groups, the team can prioritize and align ideas with the goals and initiatives of the college using evidence-based practices as the foundation.
Professional learning can be a catalyst to achieve college-wide goals by creating shared language, values and practices across disciplines, which can lead to culture change and improved outcomes.
Sustainable and deep learning
For professional learning to be sustainable, it must be fully integrated into the culture and systems of the college. Multiple entry points and pathways for faculty to engage in professional learning should be provided, including semester or yearlong orientation, ongoing communities of practice, intensive faculty summer institutes, and shorter workshops in ongoing strands of learning.
Various modes of learning (asynchronous, synchronous, in-person, hybrid, etc.) allow faculty to access professional learning in ways that best meet their needs. Colleges might start with one or two modes at the beginning and then add new modes as they expand.
Thriving teaching and learning centers grow and adapt over time in terms of their development, adoption of innovative practices, impact on student success, responses to challenges and opportunities, and accountability to the college community. A designated space, both in-person and online, should be created for faculty to gather, learn and collaborate.
Reassigning a key faculty member to lead the effort is essential to create faculty buy-in and center the learning in ways that resonate with faculty. As the program grows, most programs find it beneficial to have additional reassigned faculty support various aspects of the program as well as provide collaboration and creativity for directing the faculty development center from different disciplinary perspectives.
Professional learning should be integrated into onboarding processes for both part- and full-time faculty. Sustainability is enhanced when faculty are motivated to engage in professional learning as part of their tenure and/or evaluation process, preparation for moving into new roles (e.g., preparing to take on faculty leadership roles, leading curriculum development, etc.) and as part of implementing college-wide initiatives. Including professional learning as part of every grant and college-wide initiative ensures that faculty development becomes deeply integrated in the evolution of the college.
Effective professional learning occurs when faculty can engage in it as a recursive and iterative process over time, with opportunities to reflect, learn, apply, implement and assess. Creating opportunities for deeper learning can be intentionally woven into the professional learning structure through communities of practice, offerings with advancing levels of concept applications and intensive learning opportunities.
When faculty engage in meaningful learning about teaching, they can apply their enhanced knowledge and skills with students in ways that engage and support student success.
