Teaching is also subject to reform. The Advancing Teaching Network is an initiative that strives to improve academic culture, leading to appropriate support, recognition and rewards for teaching. This initiative consists of a network of university leaders, changemakers and experts in teaching and learning. The activities are directed by members of the network and led by Dr Ruth Graham. The Advancing Teaching Network has initiated a variety of activities, including a Career Framework for University Teaching, the Teaching Cultures Survey and annual international meetings to engage in dialogue on different ways of recognising and rewarding academic teaching.
Among other activities, the Advancing Teaching Network monitors the academic teaching culture by way of its Teaching Cultures Survey. Earlier this year year (2022), 11,614 respondents from 17 universities (including 9 Dutch universities) and 8 countries took part in this inter-institutional survey. The survey found that research is prized above teaching in performance reviews. When asked about the importance of teaching to career advancement, the respondents indicated that this was still of little importance in practice, even though they would like it to be. As an illustration of this finding, 59% of respondents said they would like the priority given to university teaching in the promotion systems at their university to increase in the future.
The Career Framework for University Teaching was designed to guide and support universities with the career progression of academics on the basis of their contributions to teaching and the curriculum. Universities can use this framework as a support instrument, adapting it to fit their own academic career progression structures. The framework divides the role of academics into four levels of university teaching achievement, each with its own sphere of impact. Universities can use the criteria for each of these levels as a guide when making promotion decisions.
The first level – that of the ‘effective teacher’ – relates to the impact on students. At this level, teaching staff must demonstrate a reflective and professional attitude that develops over time. In addition, they must offer an effective design, delivery and assessment of courses and materials. Level 2 – that of the ‘skilled & collegial teacher’ – mainly relates to the impact on academic colleagues. In order to gain promotion to this level, teaching staff must possess the academic skills required to keep students engaged. Furthermore, they must support a collegial and collaborative learning environment. Level 3 focuses on the dual roles of ‘institutional leader in teaching & learning’ and ‘scholarly teacher’. The criteria for this level are leadership and contribution to knowledge. Lastly, Level 4 highlights the role of ‘national/global leader in teaching & learning’. To gain promotion to this highest level, teaching staff must demonstrate that they exercise national and global influence in teaching and learning.
Each year, since 2016, university leaders, institutional change agents and educational experts from across the global project network have come together with a shared mission to improve the recognition and reward of university teaching. These meetings are designed to extend and support the global network of universities engaged in systemic reform to how they evidence, recognise and reward teaching achievement. They allow participants to share insights into the change process, including the challenges of changing academic cultures, evidencing teaching achievement and aligning national frameworks. These meetings have also been a springboard for many of the new activities developed through the Advancing Teaching initiative, such as the Teaching Cultures Survey and the Roadmap for Change.
The first in-person meeting of the Advancing Teaching Network since 2019 was held on 30 June and 1 July 2022 at the Trippenhuis (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) in Amsterdam. There were 55 participants from 10 countries (representing 30 universities and 6 national higher education agencies) that took part. Day one explored the progress made by the global community, how institutional processes can be used as levers for change, and national collaborations to drive coordinated and systemic reform. Day two focused on challenges faced by universities making changes to reward systems, as well as findings from the Teaching Cultures Survey 2022.
The Advancing Teaching Network brings together pedagogical researchers and university leaders from across the world with a shared goal to improve the reward and recognition of university teaching. Worldwide, universities are giving room and career prospects for talents in teaching. Once again, mutual learning is key to moving forward together and bringing cohesion to developments.
