Advancing the quality and status of teaching in Australian higher education: ideas for enhanced professional recognition for teaching and teachers

This discussion paper argues for new steps to be taken to intensify the recognition and support for the professional practice of teaching in Australian higher education. The proposed creation of a new national institute in 2016, building on the contribution and achievements of the Office for Learning and Teaching and its predecessor agencies, will open up new opportunities that are worth exploring. This discussion paper is not about the future structure of Australian higher education but it is concerned with one element of the maintenance of quality and standards through the future professionals who will teach, and lead teaching, in a more diverse, complex and competitive tertiary environment.

Thus this paper is broadly about the ongoing challenge of continuous elevation of the quality of learning and teaching in higher education, which has been the subject of course of numerous projects and activities over many years. The paper looks at quality through the particular lens of individual professional practice: its nurturing, identification and recognition. It is acknowledged that this is only one dimension, or precursor or safeguard, for the quality of learning and teaching; individual professionalism is an important and necessary element in ensuring quality and standards in higher education, but clearly other important factors must come into play as well, including resourcing and infrastructure, both physical and virtual.

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