The nature of academics’ informal conversation about teaching

Abstract

Conversations are a recognised form of informal learning in professional workplaces. Informal conversation about teaching within university departmental contexts represents one way academics learn about university teaching. Such conversations also have the potential to more effectively link learning on formal professional development programs with teaching. As professional development of teaching is usually focused on formal courses, workshops and projects, informal conversation has not been investigated as a professional development strategy. The lack of substantial exploration of conversation as a professional development strategy was the impetus for the current study. This study investigated academics’ experience of informal conversation about teaching within their departments. Thirty academic staff working in different departments at an Australian research-intensive university were interviewed and the transcripts were analysed using grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The analysis revealed that academics were learning about many aspects of teaching from informal conversation with their departmental colleagues. Four elements of informal conversation were explored: the content of conversation, the purpose for which academics used conversation, the context which influenced conversation and the relationship between conversation and formal (course-based) professional development. In summary, academics’ conversations were about topics that included students, assessment, curriculum and evaluation, with their purposes ranging from venting their frustrations, and reassuring themselves, to managing, improving and evolving their teaching. The investigation of the role of contextual influences on informal conversation about teaching yielded a theory for the nature of conversation, based on ‘commonality’. In a context which provides variable support for teaching, increases in commonality between academic colleagues are associated with increases in frequency and usefulness of their informal conversation. The theory of commonality and the description of the nature of informal conversation derived from this study are used to show how informal conversation can enhance professional development.