PERSISTENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ELUSIVE FACULTY

This Learning centres or equivalent units at most universities in many countries offer a variety of faculty and student professional development support. Historically, for various reasons, professional development (PD) has taken a backseat. PD may include workshops in pedagogy and integration of newer technologies, student assignment assistance, research skills and student employment assistance - to name but a few. Primarily, many undergraduate institutions focus on classroom pedagogy and distance/online delivery of content. Learning centres have various names and may also cater to the training of staff members even as they provide support in navigating complex areas of intellectual property and patents. Activities at these centres have been wide and varied. Through presentations, lectures, workshops, and discussions, these centres provide a forum on issues pertaining to teaching and learning (pedagogy, online learning, assessment, learning outcomes, multimedia development, emerging technologies, etc.). In some instances, these units also provide expertise, access to equipment and technical production assistance in support of teaching and learning. Some centres support and administer technologies used for course enhancement and delivery. These may include programming, development and delivery of distance or online education. Despite the wide variety of offerings, PD centres have not been well-funded and until recently, attracted low priority among administrators. And when implemented, in some cases, PD initiatives have not been very effective. PD and teaching excellence go hand-in-hand. The educator has to evolve as he or she responds to learning theories and styles; finds alternative methods of teaching and learning styles; understands mentoring and collaborative learning; engages in diversified meaningful evaluation techniques; and develops effective communication styles. One of the major concerns has been the lack of active participation among the faculty due a number of reasons. Burdened with limited resources, the university learning centres are delegated to successfully introduce evolving pedagogies and emerging technologies. Yet, the effectiveness of learning centres has been called into question, and rightly so. Some of the questions we need to ask are: (a) How can learning centres be successful and efficient? (b) What strategies can one use to encourage more faculty participation? (c) What tangible incentives can be offered to increase engagement of content experts in the dialectic of pedagogy? (d) How can one strengthen this usually overlooked but extremely vital area of higher education? (e) Why have many initiatives stumbled and how can we measure the impact of learning centres? This brief discussion will attempt to raise some questions and offer a few suggestions that may provide insights into potential strategies and possible future research in the area of faculty PD.