RESHAPING HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR ACADEMIC DEVELOPERS

Academic development professionals bring a diverse range of academic identities to the field of academic development in higher education. With each identity comes a unique set of skills, experiences, qualifications and perspectives on academic development. It is important to recognise the diverse range of perspectives that academic developers bring to the table but it is equally important to ensure that academic developers design and deliver a high quality of teaching programs that align to the institutional mission and priorities in teaching, learning and research. Therefore, it is necessary for academic developers to revisit their notions, approaches and perspectives on academic development on a regular basis and to critically self-reflect on how their philosophies of teaching meet the needs of a changing staff and student population. This is an imperative because academic developers continue to shape and reshape higher education through their significant engagement with all levels of staff that in turn influence the academic lives of their students. The changing nature of the higher education landscape in Australia and abroad makes it imperative for academic developers to equip themselves with relevant skills to enhance teaching and learning in a diverse and complex higher education environment. Discussion is concentrated on an exploration of the presence or absence of academic development professional programs for academic development practitioners in Australia higher education with some reference to the United Kingdom and South Africa, where relevant. The author maintains that unless higher education institutions commit to quality teaching by enhancing the standards of teaching development programs and making academic developers accountable for the quality of the teaching development programs that they design and deliver higher education will continue to be disadvantaged in producing quality graduates. Institutions and academic development professionals are urged to ensure that academic development practitioners develop a high level of competencies and skills in leading teaching and learning programs through their own commitment to ongoing professional academic development programs and scholarship activities. The accountability and responsibility of higher education institutions and of academic development professionals to upgrade academic developer skills and qualifications is paramount if one considers the vast influence academic development practitioners have over teaching staff and their students. Participants are encouraged to critically reflect upon the role of academic developers and to recognise institutional and academic developer responsibility and accountability to up skill as an imperative. Recommendations are made to design appropriate professional development programs for academic development professionals that will inspire their critical involvement in reshaping higher education.