Staffing and Qualifications: A

personal perspective

17 February 2011

Education 2011 to 2021- Global challenges and perspectives of blended and distance learning

Prof. Graham Webb

Staffing and QualificationsThese are personal observations - not institutional views

Where are we?• flexible learning qualifications are a sub set of

qualifications for HE teaching more generally• non-professionalised ‘profession’

– basic qualification . . competencies– registration (de-registration)– requirement for continuing professional

development

• alone as a non-profession . . alone in teaching (even Grad Certs)

Staffing and Qualifications

• curious in a credentialising industry• most HE teachers do not see the need• most leaders are uncredentialed and ignorant

of the discourse• “Grad Certs have not been proven to make a

difference” (not true Grad Certs . . . true for PhDs?)

Staffing and Qualifications

• Lack of professionalisation means the discourse is stuck

– Journal articles . . enthusiastic reinvention– most teachers unaware of discourse– most do not go near Academic

Development/Teaching Centres (AD/TC)– AD/TC staff recruitment an issue . . lack of

professional structure

• Positive: promotion . . . career progression in teaching has improved greatly

• But . . no fundamental change obvious

Staffing and Qualifications

Where might we be going?

• Research productivity . . . accountability– competition in the recruitment of highly productive

research staff– incentives . . . teaching relief– accentuated by baby boomer retirees– consequence: continued trend towards teaching

concentrated, teaching only, casual teaching positions

Staffing and Qualifications

Where might we be going?

• Increasing competition– pressure to lower costs (labour) . . as competition

grows with private providers with no research requirement

– greater staff flexibility required (market demand shifts . . . fluctuating enrolment patterns, campus patterns)

– continued drift to casualisation, remote working, multiple employers

Staffing and Qualifications

Where might we be going?• Some specialisation in roles

– to gain advancement through leadership, some will take PhDs, teaching qualifications, flexible learning qualifications

– eg group leaders, coordinators, supervisors, quality assurers . . . to distinguish from contract ‘teachers’

– Qualifications? leadership, management, QA, interpersonal skills

– another set: project management, training, technical LMS (plug in) developers . . . professional skills courses

Staffing and Qualifications

Where might we be going?• In short

– continuation of non-professionalised HE teaching profession

– greater recognition of research– greater distinction between research and teaching

concentrated/ teaching only staff– continuation of trend towards casualised staff– some career advancement possibilities through

leadership and technical credentialing

Staffing and Qualifications: A

personal perspective

17 February 2011

Education 2011 to 2021- Global challenges and perspectives of blended and distance learning

Prof. Graham Webb