Team teaching in doctoral education: guidance for academic identities on the threshold

Abstract

Team teaching in higher education offers academics the opportunity to better understand their individual teaching approaches and to learn from their colleagues. Whereas the benefits of team teaching have been widely researched, so far few findings exist regarding its value for doctoral education. This paper introduces findings of a quantitative study, which collected data from mixed-experience teaching teams. Embedded in an educational development programme for the group of teaching newcomers, team teaching here is closely linked to doctoral training. The findings suggest that – for PhD candidates – team teaching does not only provide information on the role as academic teacher, it even supports their transition towards their new academic identity. Grounded in theoretical assumptions on identity construction and the concept of liminality, this paper provides arguments on how team teaching evokes situations of encountered otherness and why this can support doctoral candidates who are on the threshold of becoming independent scholars.