questions that have to do with, for example, what is meant by pedagogical competence, which points of connection are there with other areas such as the career plans of the teachers, teachers’ digital competence and so on.
At the time of writing, the decision about how the support for the development of pedagogical competence was going to be organised at Linnaeus University had not yet been made, but it is important to make use of all of the good experiences from both Kalmar University and Växjö University to create an organisation suited to the task that will continue to conserve a holistic view and that contributes to the work of attaining the university’s strategic goals.
Activities concerning development of pedagogical
competence
Competence development in pedagogy for higher education is now offered at all Swedish universities and colleges and the activities in that context make up an important part of the work of promoting pedagogical competence. Described below are the competence development activities that have been carried at Kalmar University and Växjö University. This chapter ends with the reasoning behind pedagogical competence development at Linnaeus University.
Kalmar University offered its teachers competence development in pedagogy for higher education as early as the 1990s, long before the Swedish Riksdag adopted the government proposition requiring training in pedagogy for higher education (Prop. 2001/02:15, SOU 2001:13). The work, however, was first systematised in 1998 when a coordinator of competence development work was appointed at the university. That was also when the guidelines for pedagogical competence began to take form. The coordinator of competence development is part of a special function within the personnel department where the activities go under the name of KUL-KUTA (an acronym of the Swedish words for competence development of teachers and competence development of technical/administrative personnel). The coordinator of KUL-KUTA has functioned as the centre of a network with several actors in the university and has cooperated closely with, for example, the faculty boards or the
Section, the International Office, the Student Centre and others. The dialogue with the representatives for the student organisation and the research students’ association has also been important for the activities of KUL-KUTA.
Courses at an advanced level that provide university credits have been offered regularly by subject-specialists in different areas of higher education. KUL-KUTA has been responsible for spreading information about the courses and course enrolment and for coordination with the department heads when it is a question of which teachers shall be given priority to courses. The courses have been designed in blocks of 7.5 credits where a block has been an introduction to pedagogy for higher education and the remaining blocks have focussed on different areas within the area of pedagogy for higher education such as ICT in higher education, gender in higher education and teaching in English. The question of pedagogical competence recurs in several of the courses and the participants on the introduction course get to become familiar with the portfolio of pedagogical competences.
Within the framework of KUL-KUTA there are other types of activities for developing pedagogy for higher education such as seminars/workshops, individual coaching, funding of participation in pedagogical conferences and so on. The goals of several of these activities have been to introduce an attitude toward issues having to do with pedagogy for higher education that is research-based and to promote a professionalisation of the role of the university teacher.
The coordinator of KUL-KUTA has been responsible for preparing diverse matters that have to do with pedagogical competence such as which supervisors shall take the course in supervising doctoral students that is arranged by the university (the decision is taken by the boards) and whom is to be nominated as a candidate for the Excellence
in Teaching Programme that is arranged by the Foundation for the
Internationalisation of Higher Education (the decision is taken by the vice- chancellor). Through monitoring events in the world and needs analysis the KUL- KUTA coordinator has also supported the department heads and the boards in planning pedagogical development at Kalmar University.
At the same time as the structure described above has been experienced within the organisation as willing to develop, near, and forward looking; its vulnerability and its dependence on individuals are serious disadvantages. On several occasions Kalmar University’s way of working has also resulted in overloading and delays in realising different plans. On the other hand, the fact that competence development for higher education is coordinated by a function in the personnel department has not been experienced as problematical. While specialists are responsible for the content of competence development, the personnel department supports the work in different ways by creating the necessary conditions for continuous competence development among teaching personnel and for systematic work for rewarding pedagogical competence. Another aspect that has been experienced as advantageous is that questions concerning pedagogy for higher education have been dealt with together with questions concerning leadership development so that the question of pedagogical leadership has been brought forward in several contexts, something that several experts find beneficial to the activities (Ramsden 1998).
Växjö University
In Växjö the University Pedagogical Centre has been responsible for and arranged courses that provide qualifications in pedagogy for higher education for the university’s teachers. The activities are research-based and quality-assured through the high level of scientific proficiency that exists at the University’s Pedagogical Centre. Växjö University early on adopted the goals and criteria that had been set up by Sweden’ Association of Universities and Colleges for a course that provides qualification; however, in addition to the fifteen-credit course, the University’s Pedagogical Centre is responsible for developing several other professional development activities for the university’s teachers. The University’s Pedagogical Centre is also responsible for producing the university’s pedagogical programme and coordinating its launch and implementation.
At Växjö University research in the field of pedagogy for higher education is being done at the University Pedagogical Centre. The research that is being done has been the subject of discussions especially in connection with the merger and the reasoning about pedagogical development work at Linnaeus University. My view is that research in the area of pedagogy for higher education is of great importance for the activities that are being carried out for competence development. I consider that the same principle that applies to the integration of teaching and research in different disciplines in the departments ought to apply to pedagogy for higher education regardless of who is responsible for the measures taken for competence development.
Växjö University’s Pedagogical Centre has had a clear function in relation to the faculty when it comes to the assessment of pedagogical competence in connection with employment or promotion. This has been partially due to the fact that the head of the University Pedagogical Centre has a great deal of experience in the area and is considered to be one of Sweden’s experts when it comes to questions having to do with pedagogical competence and assessment of pedagogical competence (Lindberg 1997; Lindberg 2009).
At Växjö University – as with Kalmar University – the mandate concerning pedagogy for higher education has also included training supervisors, research students/PhD candidates and department heads. The University Pedagogical Centre has in that way been responsible for the university’s participation in cooperation with Kalmar University and Blekinge Institute of Technology regarding the course for supervisors and the leadership programme.
Linnaeus University
Irrespective of how work with issues dealing with pedagogy for higher education is going to be organised at Linnaeus University there is a consensus that the university shall offer an academic course that gives qualification in accordance with the goals and criteria set up by the Swedish Association of Universities and Colleges (SUHF 2005). In addition to the 15-credit course that provides qualification, Linnaeus University is going to offer teachers several other forms of continuous professional development within the field of pedagogy for higher education in order to live up to the university’s strategies and goals. If the leadership of Linnaeus University wants to assure pedagogy of the highest quality, work ought to be organised and structured in a visionary way with suitable resources available.
Since the Agency for Networks and Cooperation in Higher Education closed down in December 2008, the responsibility for supporting and promoting pedagogical development has been turned over to the respective institutions. There is a risk that the lack of national coordination shall lead to pedagogical development work not getting enough space or the resources that they ought to get. Consequently, in order to counteract the reduction in pedagogical development at Swedish universities and colleges, the question of pedagogical competence, career development for university teachers and the value of teaching as a qualification have to be brought up in different contexts.