Running head: Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching - PDF document

Running head: Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands Peer Review of Professional Development of Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands: Setting a benchmark for further improvement (Paper produced for the 2018 ICED conference) J.A. (Jaap) Mulder University of Groningen R.A.H. (Riekje) de Jong Utrecht University Contact Name: Jaap Mulder Address for correspondence: P.O. Box 11044, 9700CA, Groningen, The Netherlands Email Address: j.a.mulder@rug.nl

Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands Abstract Over 75% of teaching staff at 14 research universities (most are top-200 universities) meet the requirements for the mutually recognized ‘University Teaching Qualification’ (UTQ). This calls for a new step. In 2016-2017 a peer review procedure was introduced to improve the quality of the UTQ, Continuous Professional Development and Leadership Programmes. Stakeholders (students, lecturers, deans of education, programme directors, HR experts and educational developers) discussed the above at four conferences, which were organized and hosted by a cluster of three or four universities. With this nationwide peer review, Dutch research universities set a new benchmark for university teacher/lecturer quality: results, recommendations for universities, main trends, best practices and recommendations for future development. 2

Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands Peer Review of Professional Development of Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands: Setting a benchmark for further improvement The Netherlands currently has 14 research universities, all of which offer quality education and conduct high-level research (most are top-200 universities). In the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), Dutch universities work together towards improving research and teaching. In early 2008, all Dutch research universities signed an agreement regarding a University Teaching Qualification scheme (UTQ; in Dutch: Basiskwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO). This means that teaching professionalism is mutually recognized and that university teaching staff with a UTQ certificate are automatically considered qualified for academic teaching by all 14 participating institutions (appendix 1). Encouraged by the 2012 performance agreements with the Minister of Education, the universities have made a strong commitment to UTQ in recent years. This resulted in the fact that 75% of lecturers met the requirements for the UTQ in 2016/2017. This calls for a new step. The VSNU decided to organize a peer review where all of the participating universities have established and executed a peer review procedure in order to improve the quality of their lecturer development: University Teaching Qualification, Continuous Professional Development and Leadership Programmes. The peer reviews were conducted by representatives of all stakeholders (students, lecturers, deans of education, programme directors, HR experts and educational developers), using a framework of seven topics based on items from the 2008 mutual recognition agreement and some items for future development. The peer reviews were discussed during four conferences. Each conference was prepared and organized by a cluster of three or four universities. The aim is to set a new benchmark that yields recognizable results and useful recommendations for all the participating universities. In this paper the approach and the results of this nationwide peer review will be presented. The main trends, best practices and recommendations for the future will also be discussed. 3

Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands Why a peer review? The discussion about an external audit of the quality of the UTQ procedures and practice in the universities is not new. In 2010/ 2011 a pilot project was organized where six universities established a quality audit procedure in order to improve the quality of their Teaching Qualification Scheme, and provided a starting point for a national audit system. The external UTQ audit was conducted on the basis of a framework containing all the items from the 2008 mutual recognition agreement (appendix 1). The aim was to develop a useful, efficient and flexible audit system that yields recognizable results and useful recommendations for the universities. In this pilot project, six universities had their UTQ systems audited by an external audit committee in four audit sessions. The strengths of that audit approach were: - The external audit takes place on a single day - It involves little preparation time on the part of the university or the audit committee - It involves all parts of the university Participants concluded that it was possible to organize a serious and unbureaucratic audit. However this procedure did not get enough support at national level. To gain the support of all universities, it was required that the approach had to be: simple in structure, avoided bureaucracy, adaptable to priorities in institutions, attractive to use and inspiring for further development. That’s why an alternative design was introduced: a peer review organized and executed by universities themselves in the inspiring form of a peer review with one work conference per cluster of three or four institutions. These institutions jointly and simultaneously carried out the peer review. The work conference consisted of two parts. The first part was about the quality assurance of the UTQ, the second part about teacher professionalization after the UTQ (appendix 2). Exchanging self-reflection and experiences as peers creates an inspiring learning environment in which there is a lot of common ground in thinking about teacher 4

Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands professionalization. Each university can develop its own interpretation that fits in with its own strategic educational policy. This creates the conditions of openness where: Universities can learn from comparisons of each other's policies (and implementation) - Lecturers can learn from each other's experiences - Reflection on shared experiences stimulates progress in career development and - educational quality policy. Frame of Reference Aim of the peer review The results of the peer review should provide general answers to the questions: 1) How is the quality of the UTQ guaranteed? 2) How is the UTQ embedded in policy? By of answering these questions, it is possible to draw up an overview for each institution of its own strengths and self-appointed development points in response to the work conference. In addition, an answer can be given for each institution to the following questions: How do we continue with professional/ongoing development of academic teachers after the UTQ? And what policy and facilities do we need to create for this? This is processed in a non-public institutional report. Intended outcome at a national level The VSNU peer review ensures: - Making visible the what, why and how of lecturer professionalization at each institution - Sharing best practices - An adequate response to the increasing external pressure on universities to guarantee teaching quality; - Formulating recommendations for the individual institutions (by the institution itself and summarizing by the cluster) and a state of affairs report for the entire sector Two central perspectives 5

Peer Review Professional Development Academic Teaching Staff in the Netherlands - The perspective of the lecturers . How does the UTQ contribute to the quality or effectiveness of her or his teaching? How does the design of lecturer professionalization support the lecturers in their desire to further professionalize? How are the lecturers motivated intrinsically and extrinsically? - The perspective of the institution : How does UTQ contributes to the quality of teaching and innovation in teaching? How is professionalization embedded in the career policy? How can a better balance between teaching and research valuation be created? How continuous professional development does develops after the UTQ? Frame of reference and reporting A frame of reference was set after an initial discussion about the interpretation of the national report. The following seven themes were agreed upon: 1. UTQ competences 2. UTQ assessment 3. UTQ process/ trajectory 4. Quality assurance of the UTQ 5. Integration of the UTQ in education policy 6. Embedding in HR policy 7. Continuous Professional Development The peer review led to three types of reports: Fourteen institutional reports with an improvement agenda for the institution, four cluster reports that in turn provided input for the national overall report on the lecturer professional development at Dutch research universities in the VSNU context. Approach of the VSNU peer review Each cluster of three or four institutions set a date for a work conference. In preparation for these conferences, an organizing committee within the respective clusters shared all relevant 6