Developing a National Framework of Teaching Expectations: March 2-22, 2009

Hi Vivian,
I am interested to hear that the framework and credentialling process has changed things in the UK over the years. What actually has changed?

As for implementing change...taking a framework like this and implementing in health sciences education would be challenging. For instance, not all education takes place in the higher ed institution. There is a well-established model to use "clinical educators" who have a joint appointment between higher ed and the clinical setting. These Doctors and Nurses have a practicing license and they are hired because they are practitioners (not necessarily teachers). There are even fewer "standards" in the clinical domain because the teaching practice in clinical settings is very different and although the elements of the framework might apply, the process of teaching is deeply tied to the situation within which the practice is taking place. In fact, in some cases, the teacher is a mentor or coach and the students teach themselves or "apprentice" with an expert clinician. Also, in some situations there are "clinical educational" standards in BC and these people look after their own clinical teaching.

Taking this HE teaching framework across settings (higher education to public sector organizations like hospitals) would be very challenging and require joint commitments and policy changes at a very high level. These organizations must talk with each other. There are some mechanisms to do this but it is tough work. The business of preparing medical people is not entirely in the hands of the ministry of education (higher ed), the ministry of health and professional associations are also implicated (in clinical settings) and getting all of these characters together to support a common framework would be daunting. One idea could be to get some champions at multiple levels in the system and in multiple settings to come together and talk about a common framework such as this and how it might apply.

Personally, I like the idea of standards for supporting teaching excellence but I am not convinved that credentialing, mandatory continuing education, monitoring, surveillance and even reporting if you screw up is the approach we need in HE. In some sectors this is essential as the professional work is tied to macro policies such as the Canada Health Act/provincial health legislation and essentially the safety of the public. I personally believe that the change process must be very different for higher ed. We need to deal with the culture of the institutional settings, leadership and their overarching mandate along with supporting academic practice that involves teaching, research and service excellence.

what do others see about change in their contexts?
Barb