The case study provided a timely opportunity to reflect on my professional practice and, through this reflection, highlight opportunities to develop my practice. These included:
Anchoring my future practice in academic development
- I aim to locate my future practice within the context of academic development and draw on the literature to reflect critically on my practice. I recognise the need to ground my practice more strongly in the research and to share with others.
- As Sutherland and Grant point out, using change management models, as I had done in the initial planning of the Aurora Programme, “might alienate” (2016: 193) those I was trying to engage with. This I suspect was the case and I recognise that the language and approach did not sit comfortably with some of my colleagues. In future, I will aim to apply the conceptual models of academic development to avoid the overtly managerial/commercial language. Developing an an implementation plan, informed by academic development practice is likely to sit more comfortably in the context of the challenges faced in the higher education sector.
Celebrating outcomes
- I aim to view my practice through Sparks and Hodkinson’s ‘horizons for action’ (Neame & Forsyth 2016:24) when planning the goals of academic development initiatives. All too often academic development initiatives can be viewed as a process rather than outcome, with the result that the aspirations of the programme become bogged down in the administrative processes rather than the potential impact.
- It is also challenging to celebrate the intangible outcomes of the programme, so part of my future academic development practice will be focused on challenging the dominant discourse that only values the ‘visible’, quantifiable outcomes of professional development initiatives and finding ways to explicitly acknowledge and celebrate the valuable intangibles. Creating opportunities to build professional confidence, supportive relationships and a sense of belonging is surely a cause for celebration.
Value-driven practice
- Having a greater awareness of my professional values has highlighted the need for me to operate at a more strategic level; to build networks, to lead by example and to create spaces to explore, share and develop these values.
Learning portfolio by Ann Tilbury 