Teaching Academy

As part of the Education Strategy, we are establishing a sustainable, inclusive and impactful teaching excellence academy for Charles Sturt. We want an institution that recognises, rewards and values excellent teaching, with increased scholarly activity leading to greater research grant success and National and International Teaching Awards.

The Academy model is informed by the following:

A systematic national and international benchmarking of university teaching academies
An internal staff survey
Ongoing consultation with staff

Aligning Academy activity with University priorities and embedding it in our everyday activities, structures and processes will be essential.

Areas of strategic activity

Learning and teaching academies consistently endorse several broad areas of strategic activity as the potential benefits of an academy. A consistent theme is that the higher-order purpose of an Academy is positively impacting student learning and success. Other areas include:

Developing educators
Advancing First Nations education
Expanding university influence and brand
Innovating practice
Connecting the learning and teaching community
Valuing learning and teaching
Advancing educators careers
Inquiring and evidencing practice
Leading learning and teaching

Strategic goals for the Academy

These areas have been endorsed by surveyed staff as the expected ‘potential benefits’ of an academy and provide a framework for formulating a fit-for-purpose Charles Sturt strategy

The project

This project will develop a Teaching Excellence Academy with open membership for all staff and students interested in learning and teaching.

The Teaching Academy will:

contribute to educational excellence, positively impacting student learning.
recognise, reward and value excellent teaching
promote collaboration, innovation and excellence in learning and teaching
be driven by increased scholarly activity
lead to greater research grant success

A ‘hub and spokes’ Academy structure is proposed to best fit the University organisation of central elements (hub) and discipline-based Faculties (spokes). This type of Academy structure values both whole-of-University and disciplinary identities aligning both institutional and faculty plans and priorities and facilitating both University and Faculty leadership of learning and teaching. The Academy’s work would be delivered through a range of strategic partnerships with university elements, professional learning networks and communities of practice.

Two-tiered membership:

A two-tiered membership strategy is proposed for the Academy: Open membership for all staff and students with an interest in learning and teaching and Fellowship standing for staff based on their achievements, scholarship and leadership in learning and teaching. This approach to membership is expected to optimise inclusion, aspiration, and impact.

Open membership:

Academy membership is open to:

Academic and professional staff employed in sessional, part-time or continuing roles.
Undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with interest in learning and teaching
Staff or associates in clinical education, supervisory and adjunct roles

We propose an ‘opt-in’ (open, inclusive and welcoming) approach to membership.

Benefits:

The benefits of Academy membership would include the following:

Membership in an active and supportive learning community
Participation in a range of professional learning and development activities
Opportunities for leadership, contribution and recognition
Opportunities to participate in scholarly and innovative projects

The Academy was benchmarked with over 60 national and international universities This benchmarking exercise aimed to identify best practices and potential teaching academy models. It investigated:

teaching academies' organisational models, strategic goals and activities.
the academy
- culture and values
- goals and functions
- strategies and activities
- membership criteria/ benefits and expectations
- leadership and management
the university context for an academy

A survey for establishing a teaching academy was promoted throughout May. Eighty-six staff completed the survey. Survey responses came from across the faculties and divisions. Over 76% of respondents reported being a Subject Coordinator/Subject Convenor, a Subject lecturer or a Sessional Academic Staff.

Overall, survey participants indicated that:

A teaching academy would be very valuable for Charles Sturt and them as individuals
They would be interested in actively participating in this teaching academy
They were very interested in undertaking scholarly inquiry or research into learning and teaching

They also indicated that membership should be open to all Charles Sturt staff interested in learning and teaching, encourage active participation and provide the following opportunities:

recognition
career progression
professional and leadership development
developing best practice/improvements in teaching that have a direct
impact on the student experience
connecting and collaborating with colleagues across disciplines
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
cover all areas or aspects of learning and teaching

Staff identified some significant challenges in forming a teaching academy such as:

Time/associated workload with leading, organising or participating in a teaching academy
Teaching performance is currently undervalued at Charles Sturt
Need to create something new and not do what has been done in the past
It must complement and partner with other existing teaching and learning groups and not duplicate information or effort
It must be sustainable, with resources to fund staff positions now and in the future
Ensuring it has:
- strong diversity with a good cross-section of staff from across the university, including minority groups, professional staff and sessional staff.
- includes a research focus
- open collaboration and opportunity
- an impact, influencing teaching quality/practice, fostering creativity and innovation.
- is evidence based.

September 2022: Teaching Academy Drop-In Sessions occurred in September. These were 30-minute sessions where staff shared their ideas, thoughts and experiences.

September - November 2022: Approval via relevant governance committees with final approval by the Academic Senate. The Academy was endorsed by the Academic Senate in November.

December 2022: We will create a project plan which will include: scope, project schedule, risk management, resource management and communications in preparation for 2023.

First quarter 2023: We will implement our project plan, which will include (but not limited to):

establish an Academy Executive
make the required changes to policy and procedure
continue to socialise the framework across the University.

with the Academy established by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Further information

For further information about this strategic project, please email dltadmin@csu.edu.au