Why universities should provide less support for postgraduates who teach

Sean Brocklebank, PhD student, EconomicsUniversity of Edinburgh

Preliminaries

I’m a 4th year PhD student in Edinburgh’s School of Economics

Acting this year as “head tutor” (no one knows what that means) and leading reforms of the 1st year undergraduate curriculum

Caveat emptor: these slides based largely on impressions and anecdotes (there is only a sprinkling of actual social science)

The point

I will argue: Most postgraduates don’t need much

support; it’s better to think about empowerment

Those that do need support should mainly get it from other postgrads, and/or they should be given less demanding jobs

The problem as some see it

The problem as I see it

Postgraduates who teach are not all the same They differ significantly in:

Motivation Personality Language ability Teaching skills Background knowledge …

One-size-fits-all support policies aren’t appropriate (especially if they are targeted at the weakest postgrads) The best teachers will be most encumbered

The solution

On existing support structures: I have never heard of a postgrad expressing

thanks for teaching support from outside their department

But I have heard of thanks for support inside of departments

Only ‘locals’ know have the level of knowledge necessary to be useful (content knowledge, marking norms, curriculum, etc.)

This suggests (non-scientifically) that the support which exists should be provided by other postgrads

How would it work?

Most departments already know which of their postgrads are better teachers Put them “in charge” of a big course, and

have them “apprentice” new postgrads New postgrads must attend the first few of

the senior tutor’s tutorials Senior tutor provides advice, guidance, etc.

Most departments also know who the weaker teachers are (often for language reasons) If they must work (e.g. for scholarship) then

have them mark essays and have the other postgrads tutor more

Benefits of empowerment

There are benefits to learning to let go Postgrads are aware of weaknesses of the

course which lecturers may not notice Research suggests that workers who feel

empowered have better morale and are more productive, innovative, creative and committed

Takeaway: think less in terms of supporting postgraduates and more in terms of empowering them

Source: Carter, 2009, Am J of Ec and Bus Admin, Managers Empowering Employees