Growing and Developing as a University Teacher--Variation in Meaning

Abstract

This article reports the outcomes of a study, undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective, of academics' conceptions of their own growth and development as a university teacher. A range of ways of understanding teaching development emerged, representing in particular a varying focus on development experienced as an increase in: the teacher's comfort with teaching; the teacher's knowledge and skills; and learning outcomes for students. This work builds on previous studies of university teachers' conceptions of teaching, which has been shown to be related to their approaches to teaching and, thus, to student learning outcomes. Relationships between conceptions of teaching and conceptions of growing and developing as a teacher are also presented and discussed.