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Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) and Chair of the ... |
RED Report on sessional teachers officially presented
The significant contribution made by sessional teachers to higher education contained in the RED (Recognition and Enhancement and Development) Report was officially presented during UOW’s University Education Committee meeting this week.
The report was funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (formerly the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education). It involved a collaboration of eight universities on behalf of the Council of Australian Directors of Academic Development.
The report’s authors from the University of Wollongong were CEDIR (Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources) Director, Professor Sandra Wills and Ms Alisa Percy from Student Services. Ms Percy served as editor of the RED Report. Other institutions involved were the University of New South Wales, Southern Cross University, University of Western Australia, University of South Australia, University of New England, James Cook University and the Australian Catholic University.
The project, which involved 16 universities altogether, had three objectives:
• To establish the extent of the contribution that sessional teachers make to higher education
• To identify and analyse good practice examples for dissemination and
• To consider the possible developments for institutional and sector-wide improvements to the quality enhancement of sessional teaching
In a foreword to the report, the Chairman of UOW’s University Education Committee and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) Professor Rob Castle, described sessional teachers as “the hidden part of the massification that has taken place in higher education in Australia over the last 30 years”.
“One of the greatest achievements of the Australian higher education system has been the growth of student access to university study, and this could not have been achieved without the massive contribution of sessional staff,’ Professor Castle said.
He said that between 40 and 50 per cent of teaching in Australian higher education was now done by sessional staff and that this fact has been largely unacknowledged.
Professor Castle said in the report that working out where sessional staff fit into the university system of the future and ensuring they are not exploited is a real challenge.
“If we are to provide a quality education for our students, we are compelled to look at all of the people who teach in universities – not just the permanent teaching and research elite,” he said.
The link to the RED Report and RED Resource is located at: http://www.altc.edu.au/carrick/go/home/grants/pid/558