All Ireland Society for Higher Education
[This is the original announcement of the symposium: resources -- presentation slides etc. -- are also now available.]
The academic profession must be one of the very few in which members are not prepared formally for one of their primary roles, namely teaching. Of course, many have limited experience of teaching during their postgraduate studies as Teaching Assistants, Tutors or Demonstrators but this experience provides only restricted exposure to the many dimensions of teaching at Third-level.
Other countries however, with education systems very similar to Ireland's, have moved towards a systematic approach to the initial professional development of academic staff and short two or three day induction courses are being replaced by programmes which extend over a substantial part of the academic year. Queens University Belfast, the University of Ulster and the Dublin Institute of Technology all already offer well-established courses of this type. In many universities, the successful completion of such a programme is a prerequisite for the granting of tenure.
Further, at least in the United Kingdom, many universities are seeking accreditation for their programmes through the Institute for Learning and Teaching, established following the Dearing Report.
This symposium will discuss issues relating to the initial professional development of academic staff and the accreditation of courses providing such development. Speakers will be Professor Sally Brown of the Institute of Learning and Teaching (UK), Mr Fergal Costello, Head of Policy and Planning at the Higher Education Authority (Republic of Ireland) with Dr John Panter of Trinity College (and Vice President of AISHE) acting as Devil's advocate.
The symposium is supported by the HEA Training of Trainers Fund, under the National Development Plan. There is no charge for attendance, but places are limited so intending participants should register by Friday 4 January. To register, please contact Niamh Doherty by phone at +353-1-700-8463 or by email at: niamh.doherty@dcu.ie
(The Symposium will be followed by the first Annual General Meeting of AISHE which should last about an hour.)