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The “Meta-Profession” of Being a College Teacher. A presentation for faculty and administrators at Sinclair Community College October 21, 2011 Michael Theall Ph.D. Raoul’s tale …. Once upon a time at a bank in Jacksonville, FL …. Proposition # 1.
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The “Meta-Profession” of Being a College Teacher A presentation for faculty and administrators at Sinclair Community College October 21, 2011 Michael Theall Ph.D. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Raoul’s tale …. Once upon a time at a bank in Jacksonville, FL …. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Proposition # 1 Given the missions of higher education and the nature of teaching and learning as human activities, faculty are the college’s critical resources (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Corrolary: To be effective, successful, productive, and professionally satisfied, faculty need a variety of skills AND adequate institutional support (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Professional development… must reflect institutional realities and the interests and needs of the stakeholders WHY? (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Because … two of the activities most important in the professional lives of the faculty [[ i.e., professional growth and performance evaluation]] are determined, influenced, and carried out by local stakeholders. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Basic Premise: Evaluation without development is punitive Development without evaluation is guesswork. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Basic Premise: Development and evaluation systems will not be complete until they are based on an understanding of the work that faculty are expected to do, and the skills that are required to do that work successfully! (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Basic Premise: ALL DEVELOPMENT and EVALUATION ARE LOCAL! (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
In higher education… Who are the stakeholders? What is (or should be) their influence? (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Traditional stakeholder model (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Development and Evaluation Stakeholdersin a revised model (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
In the Meta-Profession, Collegiality is a foundation for professional development and satisfaction, and the basis for a strong profession. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
How do you promote collegiality? In general? At Sinclair CC? Please take a few moments to identify some critical (and observable) behaviors that you would consider “collegial.” Please share your thoughts with others so that we can create a list of possibilities to consider, choose from, and connect to today’s presentation. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Collegial behaviors: (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
How do you promote collegiality? At Sinclair CC? Please take a few moments to identify the ways in which the faculty and the College can promote these collegial behaviors. Again, please share your thoughts with others so that we can create a list of possibilities to consider, choose from, and connect to today’s presentation. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Institutional strategies (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
An approach… Thinking “Meta-Professionally” about the work and skills of the faculty (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
0 Faculty are “Meta-Professionals” CollegeTeaching Profession Base Profession (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Accounting Professor Nursing Professor History Professor 0 The Academy All faculty are drawn from a pool of people prepared in a content- specific ‘base’ profession. Base Profession Nurse Accountant Historian (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Base profession includes…. Content Expertise Practice/Clinical Skills Research Techniques (strategies for keeping current) (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Roles of the Professoriate: Teaching Scholarly & Creative Activities Service Administration (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Roles of the Professoriate The performance of these roles often requires skills and knowledge beyond that of one’s disciplinary expertise. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
24 (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Teaching Context Differences (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Expertise in, and Need for Skills How do we know which skills are necessary? How do we know if we are skilled enough? (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Expertise and Frequency of Need (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Expertise and need … Do all academics share opinions about the levels of expertise in, and need for the skills? (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Disciplinary Differences in Ratings (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Administrator and Faculty Ratings (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
You may ask ….. How can a “Meta-Professional” approach support and improve professional enrichment and fair evaluation? (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
The Institutional Expertise Advantage (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Development and Evaluation Stakeholdersin a revised model (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Figure 1. Scholarship & Practice (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Figure 2. Scholarship & Practice Interactions (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Figure 3. Scholarship & practice: Assessment - SoTL - Improvement Synergy (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
8 Steps to Develop a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System (Arreola, 2007) Determine • the faculty role model • the faculty role model parameter values • the definitions of the roles • the role component weights • the appropriate sources of information • the source weights • the data gathering methods • the design & selection of forms (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Source – Impact Matrix (Arreola, 2007) (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
8 Steps to Develop a Comprehensive Professional EnrichmentSystem (Theall, 2008) Determine: • the needs for enrichment functions; • the principal clients of services; • the configuration & location of programs; • the allocation of resources; • the intended impact of programs; • the connections to other campus programs. • the leadership structure; • the processes to create & implement programs. (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Function – Client Matrix (Theall, 2008) (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
A question (or two) … “Whatever happened to THE faculty?” (Schuster, 1990) “What has happened to the professoriate?” (Katz, 2006) (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Whatis … “a body of persons having a common purpose or common duties” (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
What is … “a body of persons having a common purpose or common duties” … a college (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Who is: “One who chooses to, or is chosen to work with others” (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Who is: “One who chooses to, or is chosen to work with others” …a colleague (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
In the Meta-Profession, Collegiality is a foundation for professional development and satisfaction, and the basis for a strong meta-profession so that … (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Somewhere, some time, back at the bank… We might hear, “Let me help you with this. After all, you’re a college professor.” (C) M. Theall SCC 2011
Asampling of sources Go to: http://www.cedanet.com/meta for a discussion of the ‘meta-profession’ of the professoriate http://www.idea.ksu.edu/podidea/index.html to access a series of short essays on teaching & evaluation http://ntlf.com/pod/index.html for an overview & bibliography of faculty evaluation http://www.developfaculty.com/online/index.html for access to on-line resources on teaching and learning (C) M. Theall SCC 2011