Widening the discourse on team-teaching in higher education

Abstract

Team-teaching is arguably shifting from the realm of pedagogic choice to that of necessity in a complex and demanding Higher Education (HE) landscape. This research gives a voice to staff collaborating in team-teaching, considering their motivations and approach, to identify key challenges and opportunities. Results indicate that the changing landscape of HE in the UK is promoting innovative approaches to using existing team-teaching models rather than proposing new ones. The leadership dimension of the module leader role is highlighted, suggesting a need to explore and extend debates on developing academic leadership at all levels of academic employment. Consequently, the research contributes additional perspectives on existing work relating to academic leadership, the changing academic role, increasing workloads and professional teacher identity. The findings have implications for how staff are prepared and supported as practitioners in HE and the processes whereby we record and reward individuals contributions.