Supporting sessional staff through structured induction: evaluation, reflections and lessons learned
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v9i3.503Keywords:
sessional staff, induction, support, continuing professional development, supervisionAbstract
The case study that is the focus of this article is based on a professional development opportunity provided for sessional staff who were recruited to the School of Education at a research-intensive university in the UK. Research literature on sessional staff demonstrates potential pitfalls both in academic management and continuing professional development for this group of staff. Taking a socio-constructive view of teaching and learning, we outline the construction and delivery of an induction training programme for sessional staff recruited to supervise Masters dissertations. The sessions were characterised by active learning, discussion among peers and with staff knowledgeable in the specific areas under discussion. The induction training programme was evaluated by an online survey. Drawing on the survey as well as our own reflections, we found that the induction sessions had enabled sessional staff to become more confident in taking up their roles; that active learning and discussion had been both important and enjoyable; and that knowledgeable staff had contributed to the effectiveness of the teaching and learning which were experienced.
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Tolley, K. (2018). Professors in the Gig Economy: Unionizing Adjunct Faculty in America. Baltimore, MD: JHU Press.
Umbach, P. D. (2007). How Effective Are They? Exploring the Impact of Contingent Faculty on Undergraduate Education. The Review of Higher Education, 30(2), 91–123. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2006.0080
Vygtosky, L. (1962) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Watkins, C., Carnell, E., & Lodge, C. (2021). Effective Learning in Classrooms (By pages 69-86). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446211472
White, P.J., Larson, I., Styles, K., Yuriev, E., Evans, D.R., Rangachari, P.K., Short, J.L., Exintaris, B., Malone, D.T., Davie, B., Eise, N., McNamara, K. & Naidu, S. (2016). Adopting an active learning approach to teaching in a research-intensive higher education context transformed staff teaching attitudes and behaviours, Higher Education Research & Development, 35:3, 619-633
Zion, M., & Slezak, M. (2005). It takes two to tango: In dynamic inquiry, the self-directed student acts in association with the facilitating teacher. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(7), 875–894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.05.016
Beaton, F. (2017). Just in time and future-proofing? Policy, challenges and opportunities in the professional development of part-time teachers. International Journal for Academic Development, 22(1), 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1261354
Beaton, F., & Gilbert, A. (Eds.). (2013). Developing effective part-time teachers in higher education: New approaches to professional development. Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
Bentley-Williams, R. (2017). Engaging university casual tutors in collaborative reflection for improving student learning outcomes. Reflective Practice, 18(4), 540–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1323732
Boshier, R. (2009). Why is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning such a hard sell? Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360802444321
Botham, K.A. (2018). The perceived impact on academics’ teaching practice of engaging with a higher education institutions' CPD scheme. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 55:2, 164-175.
Cousin, G. (2009). Researching learning in higher education. An introduction to contemporary methods and approaches. New York: Routledge.
Crawford, T., & Germov, J. (2015). Using workforce strategy to address academic casualisation: A University of Newcastle case study. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(5), 534–544. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2015.1079394
Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C.N. (2018). Qualitative enquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. (4th ed). London: Sage.
Crimmins, G. (2017). Feedback from the coal-face: How the lived experience of women casual academics can inform human resources and academic development policy and practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 22(1), 7–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1261353
Crimmins, G., Nash, G., Oprescu, F., Alla, K., Brock, G., Hickson-Jamieson, B., & Noakes, C. (2016). Can a systematic assessment moderation process assure the quality and integrity of assessment practice while supporting the professional development of casual academics? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(3), 427–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1017754
Fredericks, V., & Bosanquet, A. (2017). ‘An essential right’: Reflections on evaluating a professional development program for tutors. International Journal for Academic Development, 22(1), 84–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1261355
Gappa, J., & Leslie, D. (1993). Invisible Faculty: Improving the Status of Part-Timers in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Grainger, P., Adie, L., & Weir, K. (2016). Quality assurance of assessment and moderation discourses involving sessional staff. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(4), 548–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1030333
Higgins, K., & Harreveld, R. E. (Bobby). (2013). Professional development and the university casual academic: Integration and support strategies for distance education. Distance Education, 34(2), 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2013.801759
Higher Education Staff Statistics: UK, 2019/20 | HESA. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2021, from https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/19-01-2021/sb259-higher-education-staff-statistics
Hitch, D., Mahoney, P., & Macfarlane, S. (2018). Professional development for sessional staff in higher education: A review of current evidence. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(2), 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1360844
Kosheleva, O., Viera, J., & Kreinovich, V. (2018). From Gig Economy to Gig Education. Departmental Technical Reports (CS). https://scholarworks.utep.edu/cs_techrep/1253
Larochelle, M., Bednarz, N., Garrison, J., & Garrison, J. W. (1998). Constructivism and Education. Cambridge University Press.
Leathwood, C., & Read, B. (2020). Short-term, short-changed? A temporal perspective on the implications of academic casualisation for teaching in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1742681
Leigh, J. (2014). “I Still Feel Isolated and Disposable”: Perceptions of Professional Development for Part-time Teachers in HE. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 10-16. Retrieved May 27, 2021, from https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/JPAAP/article/view/105
Lichtman, M. (2013). Qualitative research in education. A user’s guide. (3rd Ed). London: Sage
Lopes, A., & Dewan, I. A. (2018). Precarious Pedagogies? The Impact of Casual and Zero-Hour Contracts in Higher Education. Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 7 (Fall), 28–42.
Loveday, V. (2018). The neurotic academic: Anxiety, casualisation, and governance in the neoliberalising university. Journal of Cultural Economy, 11(2), 154–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1426032
Harvey, M., & Luzia, K. (2013). Editorial: How do you measure up? Standards for sessional staff teaching : moving from periphery to core. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 10(3). https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/editorial-how-do-you-measure-up-standards-for-sessional-staff-tea
Percy, A., & Beaumont, R. (2008). The casualisation of teaching and the subject at risk. Studies in Continuing Education, 30(2), 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/01580370802097736
Percy, A. K., Scoufis, S., Parry, A., Goody, M., Hicks, I., Macdonald, K., & Martinez et al. (2008). The RED Resource, Recognition – Enhancement – Development: The Contribution of Sessional Teachers to Higher Education. Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Probert, B. (2013). Teaching-focused academic appointments in Australian universities: Recognition, specialisation, or stratification?,. <https://ltr.edu.au/resources/Teaching-focused_academic_appointments.pdf>.
Read, B., & Leathwood, C. (2020). Casualised academic staff and the lecturer-student relationship: Shame, (Im)permanence and (Il)legitimacy. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(4), 539–554. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1748570
Robertson, M. J., & Fyffe, J. (2019). What happens to doctoral supervision when university departments have high levels of precarious academic employment?: An Australian case study. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 56(5), 652–662. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2018.1522268
Ryan, S., Burgess, J., Connell, J. & Groen,E. (2013). Casual Academic Staff in an Australian University:
Marginalised and Excluded. Tertiary Education and Management 19 (2), 161–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2013.783617.
Scales, P. (2017) An Introduction to Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: supporting fellowship. London: McGraw Hill.
Smith, E., & Coombe, K. (2006). Quality and Qualms in the Marking of University Assignments by Sessional Staff: An Exploratory Study. Higher Education, 51(1), 45–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6376-7
Smith, E. & Smith, A. (2012). Buying-out teaching for research: The views of academics and their managers. Springer Nature April 2012. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=73165271&site=ehost-live
Tolley, K. (2018). Professors in the Gig Economy: Unionizing Adjunct Faculty in America. Baltimore, MD: JHU Press.
Umbach, P. D. (2007). How Effective Are They? Exploring the Impact of Contingent Faculty on Undergraduate Education. The Review of Higher Education, 30(2), 91–123. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2006.0080
Vygtosky, L. (1962) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Watkins, C., Carnell, E., & Lodge, C. (2021). Effective Learning in Classrooms (By pages 69-86). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446211472
White, P.J., Larson, I., Styles, K., Yuriev, E., Evans, D.R., Rangachari, P.K., Short, J.L., Exintaris, B., Malone, D.T., Davie, B., Eise, N., McNamara, K. & Naidu, S. (2016). Adopting an active learning approach to teaching in a research-intensive higher education context transformed staff teaching attitudes and behaviours, Higher Education Research & Development, 35:3, 619-633
Zion, M., & Slezak, M. (2005). It takes two to tango: In dynamic inquiry, the self-directed student acts in association with the facilitating teacher. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(7), 875–894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.05.016
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