Lena Christensen and Rachel Forsyth are leading a project on Pedagogical career development and the pedagogical merit system at Lund University from October 2022 to November 2023.
The project is reviewing the connections between pedagogical career development and pedagogical merit system in order to provide a suggestion for a comprehensive university-wide framework for the development of pedagogical competencies and the recognition of pedagogical merit. This work will help to value and incentivize individual engagement in pedagogic development, demonstrating the university’s strong commitment to excellence in teaching as well as research. The project is sponsored by the vice-rector for education and culture, Ann-Kristin Wallengren, and is overseen by a steering group.
The project has two major aims:
- To review how higher education pedagogical competence development, formal higher education programs and educational qualification models look and function at different universities, including LU
- To propose a transparent and equitable framework for the development, recognition and maintenance of pedagogical merit across the university
The proposed framework will need to reflect both the needs of the individual to have a good career path which takes into account their pedagogic expertise alongside other aspects of their professional life, and the needs of the university to have the best teachers. We have been talking to people about their hopes and expectations for a university-wide framework for the development, recognition and maintenance of pedagogical merit across the university. The following list of the ‘top ten’ hopes and expectations has been created from these discussions. What do you think? Is there anything missing? Do you disagree with anything? Let us know through the comments form.
- A clear framework for making appointment and promotion decisions which include pedagogical merit:
- Ensure “Safe recruitment” – gaining criteria and tools to help to ensure that we are appointing new colleagues who have a genuine interest in and commitment to teaching.
- Provide support for the Lärarförslagsnämnder by having clear shared criteria for assessing teaching expertise, community contribution and team work
- Provide training for prefekter to understand university and faculty criteria for assessing teaching expertise, community contribution and team work so that they can support colleagues to achieve recognition as part of their individual employment plans and annual reviews.
- Make records of teacher achievements (such as completion of courses at the pedagogical units) more easily available to prefekter
- Clear policies for encouraging teachers to continue to develop their pedagogical expertise throughout their careers:
- Provide ideas for interesting ways to reward good teaching in addition to the current career structures
- Provide ideas for interesting ways to incentivise and reward pedagogical leadership
- Suggest ways to include recognised teachers (t. ex those with ETP) in faculty work connected to teaching development
- Develop and disseminate a clear institutional message that teaching is important as research
- Offer resources and support for the framework through the pedagogical units
- Regular opportunities for university-wide discussion about recognising and rewarding excellent teaching, including through rådet för högskolepedagogisk