Using Faculty Professional Development to Foster Organizational Change: a Social Learning Framework

Change is a constant presence within today’s higher education institutions. Local faculty professional development opportunities may provide avenues for enacting these organizational changes through personal continuous improvement. While working to meet these organizational priorities, it is also essential that professional development must provide opportunities for individual growth. Combining systems thinking and social learning theories may provide solutions for meaningful faculty development that also meets identified organizational priorities. This article will describe the creation of a conceptual framework that utilizes systems thinking and change in combination with social learning theories that may be employed to encourage meaningful development engagements for faculty in order to lead change in higher education institutions. In addition to defining each component of the framework, suggestions for intervention strategies, change strategies and design considerations are also offered. Action planning pages provided within the framework will help practitioners make decisions regarding their own individual higher education settings.