Preparing Academics of the Future

UWA’s Postgraduate Teaching Internship Scheme

Dr Stacey Fox

‘It is widely agreed that while the research role of academic work is professionalised through doctoral study and active engagement in a scholarly community, there is no commensurate rigour in the preparation and ongoing support for the teaching role’ (Dearn, Fraser and Ryan, 2002, iv).

I have a very distinct memory of the first time I walked in to a classroom as a teacher and not as a student. As I made my way towards the class, a ninety minute tutorial with upper-level students, my stomach was churning with the nerves I suspect are common to all first-time teachers. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the idea that I was about to become a tutor (the tutor!) – responsible for the intellectual development of fifteen young, enthusiastic (or, as I was to discover, sometimes not-so-enthusiastic) minds – when I didn’t feel very far removed from being an undergraduate myself. But, in spite of the butterflies and my uncertainty, I got to the door of the tute room, calmly took a deep breath, put my shoulders back and my head up, walked into the classroom, took charge, and ran the class. I’m certain that it wasn’t the best class I’ve ever taken, but things went pretty well and only got better as the semester progressed.

My nerves, and my ambivalence about my ability, qualifications and authority as a teacher, aren’t unique – and in fact would probably characterise most new teachers’ response to their first teaching experience. However, unlike many new teachers, and last-minute jitters aside, I had the benefit of feeling exceptionally well-prepared for my first class, and I credit the Internship with my ability to walk, more or less confidently, into the class and take charge.

Beginning teaching under the aegis of the Internship, I had spent many hours prior to my first teaching experience reflecting on my philosophy of teaching and what sort of teacher I wanted to be; I had been introduced to theories of student learning and principles of good practice in higher education; I had discussed a range of ‘worst case scenarios’ with my fellow Interns and thus had a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with a completely silent class, or a class where no one had done the reading, or a student trying to dominate the conversation; and I had a whole repertoire of strategies to make my classes engaging and interesting.

Just as significantly, I had a very supportive network of fellow Interns who were all going through the same thing I was. I had a wonderful teaching mentor who was available if I needed any help, not to mention the support offered by the Internship coordinators. And I had a learning partner, another Intern from my own discipline, with whom to discuss the manifold joys and challenges of university teaching. Without the preparation and support provided by the Internship, my first experience of teaching would have been markedly different. Indeed, my teaching practice continues to be shaped by the Internship and the grounding in pedagogy and reflective practice it provided.

The Postgraduate Teaching Internship Scheme began in 2000, under the leadership of Winthrop Professor Jane Long, now Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), and in the ten years it has been operating, nearly 160 interns, from all faculties in the University, have been involved in the program. Its aim is to provide the kind of rigorous preparation of future academics called for by Dearn, Fraser and Ryan, and also to support postgraduate students as they made their first forays into university teaching.

It is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind in Australia and has been listed in the AUQA Database of Good Practice since 2005. In 2006 it won a program award from the then Carrick Institute (now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council). The Carrick citation described the Internship as ‘an investment in both collective and individual educational futures, while the values and experiences embedded through it demonstrably enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the present’ (ALTC, 2006). The Internship is a year-long program of paid professional development, involving up to twenty-four interns each year. The program involves:

• a three day workshop, based on the Foundations of University Teaching course new academic staff are required to undertake;
• fortnightly follow-up sessions that run throughout the year, most of which are delivered by the Interns themselves;
• a range of teaching experiences – both small-group teaching and lecturing – and a curriculum development component;
• a teaching and learning research project, which may be presented at and published with the Teaching and Learning Forum;
• working with a faculty-based teaching mentor;
• a learning partnership with a fellow Intern, for the purpose of engaging in peer observation of teaching, and
• the development of a teaching portfolio.

This range of activities not only provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of teaching and learning at university, but also inducts Interns into academic life much more explicitly than is usual for postgraduate students. The Internship is a challenging and intensive program – Interns must learn to juggle their teaching commitments with their research. In addition to the tutorial or laboratory teaching that is usual for postgrads, Interns are required to give lectures, prepare course materials and often also sit on School Teaching and Learning Committees.

In a report for the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, Chris Golde and George Walker argue that the PhD should do more than produce graduates with specialist knowledge. Rather, they suggest that doctoral education should produce ‘stewards of the discipline’, scholars ‘who will creatively generate new knowledge, critically conserve valuable and useful ideas, and responsibly transform those understanding through writing, teaching and application’ (Golde and Walker, 2006, p. 5). This is clearly a broader understanding of the PhD than the model that pertains in most Australian universities. However, its emphasis on the importance of developing disciplinary knowledge and the ability to communicate that knowledge is compelling, and it positions the kind of professional development provided by the Internship as a central, rather than an ancillary, part of the postgraduate experience.

A significant number of former Interns have gone on to successful academic careers, many of them here at UWA (see page 9). They have become ‘stewards’ of their disciplines, as they teach, with great success, the next generation of scholars. Their early grounding in pedagogy and their exposure to (and participation in) the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has, in many cases, continued to bear fruit, as former Interns maintain an interest in and involvement with teaching and learning. For the past four years the Internship has been run by former Interns. It is currently run by Assistant Professor Lee Partridge, who was an Intern in 2003. The CATLyst for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science is a former Intern, as is the Associate Dean (Students) in the Faculty of Law. Numerous other former Interns report continued engagement with teaching and learning: attending conferences, applying for grants, and publish papers. Several Interns – Michael Ondaatje, Bonnie Thomas, Tama Leaver and Alison Jaquet – have won teaching awards.

Included here are the reflections of four such successful former Interns – Dr Michelle Harvey, Dr John Bamberg, Dr Michael Ondaatje and Dr Lorraine Sim – currently lecturing at Australian and European universities. Each of them is a testament to the success of the Internship, and the role it plays in developing and supporting potential academics.

References:

• Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) (2006) 2006 Carrick Awards for Australian University Teaching: Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning, retrieved 1 April, 2009, from: www.altc.edu.au/award-postgraduate-education-enhance-learning-recipient-2006-uwa-postgraduate-teaching
• Golde, C. and Walker, G. (2006). Envisioning the Future of Doctoral Education: Preparing Stewards of the Discipline: Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

For more information, please see http://www.teachingandlearning.uwa.edu.au/page/78181 or contact Assistant Professor Lee Partridge at lee.partridge@uwa.edu.au. Applications for the Postgraduate Teaching Internship scheme will open mid-July 2009.