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Professional development of academic staff in private higher education

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014.

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Other Authors: Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog
author_browse Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog
author_facet Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:41.590Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/43272 Professional development of academic staff in private higher education Living theory Mentorship Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog annetteb@pmi-sa.co.za Boshoff, Annette Continual professional development Herrmann Whole Brain® Innovative facilitating learning Learning style Lifelong learning UCTD Posters Sing-along learning Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. A common phenomenon in the private higher education environment is that lecturers are highly qualified subject specialists and conduct research mainly in areas in their fields of expertise. Therefore they are not always well informed about the dynamics of the global educational environment and they do not have an indepth knowledge of how learning takes place. As a result of this the traditional lecturing style is mainly used during contact sessions and mostly theoretical knowledge is assessed in written examinations. During class visits that were conducted as part of my duties as quality assurer of the teaching, learning and assessment that take place in the Production Management Institute of Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd (trading as PMI), a private higher education institution, it was noticed that the facilitators of learning present mostly lectures that are based on one-way communication with very little student participation. Learning style flexibility and allowing active student participation during the contact sessions are, in most instances, not considered. This lecturer-centred practice prevents the students from developing responsibility for their own learning process and creating an interest in becoming lifelong learners. An action research-driven professional development programme was presented to the academic staff of PMI to allow them the opportunity to develop innovative facilitation of learning practices. The programme aimed to create a scholarly approach to establishing a culture of lifelong learning in the private higher education environment – in literature commonly referred to as a scholarship of learning and teaching. The academic staff members conducted action research on their own practices as facilitators and assessors of lifelong learning. I conducted living theory action research on my style of being a mentor for the participants of the project. The programme commenced in 2009. The content of and the level on which the programme was presented are in line with a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) that is offered at a public institution. The participants were introduced to, inter alia, the principles of the Ned Herrmann Whole Brain® theory, Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory and Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive levels. As the first step in the programme all the participants completed the on-line Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®). An accredited Hermann Brain Dominance practitioner was contracted to provide feedback to the participants and to explain the principles of this instrument. The HBDI® practitioner is affiliated on a full-time basis with the education faculty of a public higher education institution. He was contracted to facilitate the professional development programme as well. The success of the programme became evident through student feedback and requests, and feedback received from the participating facilitators of learning. Top level management of PMI also became aware of the successes and it resulted in the inclusion of the development of the academic staff members as one of the main focus areas in the strategic management plan for 2010. It was decided that the programme should be repeated every year in order to ensure the continuous professional development of existing and new academic staff members. PMI was invited to offer the programme in the Agriculture and Science Faculty of a public university. Parts of the project were showcased at the 2010 and 2012 conferences of the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (HELTASA) and the Knowledge 2011 international conference. lk2014 Humanities Education PhD Unrestricted 2015-01-19T12:13:22Z 2015-01-19T12:13:22Z 2014/12/12 2014 Thesis Boshoff, A 2014, Professional development of academic staff in private higher education, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43272> D14/9/69 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43272 en © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Continual professional development
Herrmann Whole Brain®
Innovative facilitating learning
Learning style
Lifelong learning
UCTD
Posters
Sing-along learning
Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title_full Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title_fullStr Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title_full_unstemmed Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title_short Professional development of academic staff in private higher education
title_sort professional development of academic staff in private higher education
topic Continual professional development
Herrmann Whole Brain®
Innovative facilitating learning
Learning style
Lifelong learning
UCTD
Posters
Sing-along learning
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43272