Meritteringsordningen og universitets- og høgskolepedagogikk - hybride virksomheter i arbeid med utdanningskvalitet

Abstract

This chapter sheds light on the relationship between the Excellent Teaching Practitioner system (ETP system) and Academic Development (AD) in higher education institutions in Norway. Using a hybrid perspective on ETP that combines an individual orientation with an emphasis on the institutions’ organisational significance, we focus on what different actors associate with an ETP, and how they assess the ETP system. Furthermore, we ask how the ETP system and AD can be strengthened to ensure educational quality. Our chapter is based on findings from surveys among three groups of actors in the ETP system: 1) Those responsible for the ETP system, 2) ETPs, and 3) Staff assessing ETP applications. Our study shows that the intentions in White Paper No. 16 (2016–2017) Quality Culture in Higher Education, about individual recognition and increased status for teaching activities, have largely been realized. There is, however, an untapped potential in realizing the skills of ETPs in further developing quality in the wake of the status awarded. We argue that ETPs, the ETP system and AD should be seen as professional practices that play an important role in establishing and upholding strong microcultures in academic environments within Norwegian higher education. This entails that the field of academic development is given sufficient space to support and develop closely with the academic environments, including the ETPs, and furthermore that AD is allowed to be developed as an area of research.