Development paths of university teachers during a pedagogical development course

Authors

  • Liisa Postareff University of Helsinki
  • Anne Nevgi University of Helsinki

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyse the development of university teachers’ pedagogical expertise during a five-month, 10-credit pedagogical development course. The data consists of reflection diaries of 18 participants who participated in the course. The method of content analysis was applied to identify different development paths from the reflection diaries. The paths differ from each other in terms of development in teaching practices, conceptions and teacher identity. The results suggest that some teachers resist changing their understanding about teaching and learning while others describe strong changes both in their conceptions of teaching and learning, as well as in their teacher identity. These results are reflected in light of boundary crossing theory presented by Akkerman and Bakker (2011).

Keywords

expertise development, pedagogical development, development paths, university teachers, pedagogical development courses, reflection diaries

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Author Biographies

Liisa Postareff, University of Helsinki

Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education

Anne Nevgi, University of Helsinki

Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education

Published

01-01-2015

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