Life and work in academia: an event for new lecturers

Programme | Location map

Aimed at new teaching staff (less than 2 years experience) in languages, linguistics and area studies, this one day workshop aims to complement ‘generic’ Postgraduate Certificate courses offered by institutions.

The event will take a holistic and long term examination of the academic career and will include discussions of:

• classroom issues
• career promotion and progression for both fixed-term and permanent staff
• university citizenship
• making use of the LLAS Subject Centre

Workshop fee

There is no charge for employees and postgraduate students of publicly funded UK educational institutions. The fee for employees and postgraduate students of private institutions/organisations and non-UK institutions is £40.00.

Lunch will be provided. Please note we reserve the right to charge a £20.00 non-attendance fee.

Travel bursary

A travel bursary is available for this event. Closing date for applications is: 31st March 2008.

Provisional programme for 15 April 2008

Time	Session
10.15 - 10.50	Registration and coffee
10.50 - 11.00	Welcome and introductions
11.00 - 11.45	Introduction: The university academic: one job, many roles Michael Kelly, Director: Subject Centre for LLAS and Professor of French, University of Southampton
11.45 - 12.10	Supporting teaching and learning in languages, linguistics and area studies: What can the Subject Centre can do for you? John Canning / Shoshannah Holdom, Subject Centre for LLAS Presentation
12.10 - 12.40	One year on: A perspective from a new lecturer Sarah Bowskill, Lecturer in Hispanic Studies, Swansea University Presentation
12.40 - 13.00	Discussion
13.00 - 14.00	Lunch
14.00 - 15.30	In the classroom: An open discussion In advance of the workshop delegates will be asked to indicate what issues they would like to hear discussed in his session. Presentation
15.30 - 15.45	Tea
15.45 - 16.15	Career progression and promotion Vicky Wright, Senior Academic Coordinator Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies and Director of Centre for Language Study, University of Southampton This session will explore ways in which delegates can progress in their careers and the possible opportunities available to them. Vicky Wright will also address the particular needs of part-time and fixed-term staff. Presentation
16.15 - 16.45	Being a university citizen Philip Davies, De Montfort University and Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library ‘Service’ and ‘administration’ are often marginalised in discussions about academic careers. This final session will explore the notion of citizenship in the university and in subject associations.
16.45 - 17.00	Discussion and close

Event report

By Laetitia Vedrenne, Durham University

Life and work in academia: an event for new lecturers in languages, linguistics and area studies was organised by LLAS and hosted at Clare College, Cambridge. This one-day workshop was aimed at new teaching staff in languages, linguistics and area studies.

The University academic: one job, many roles

Michael Kelly, Director: Subject Centre for LLAS and Professor of French, University of Southampton

Michael Kelly addressed students’ perception of academia as outside the ‘real’ world and contrasted it with the actual rise of the knowledge economy, i.e. the growing need for increasingly skilled workers. In the context of globalisation, the rising need for language and culture learning / awareness was emphasised as a way to highlight the distinctive qualities of one’s identity.

The specificity of language teaching was the examined in particular relation to the notion of personal growth through dialogue, the obvious expectations of the ‘teacher’ to learn from a community of learning composed of his/her institution, department and peers and the idea that this profession changes us / our identity.

The four dimensions of education were then examined:

• savoir, with a particular emphasis on its significance outside the academic world;
• savoir-faire, especially ‘criticality’;
• savoir-apprendre and the need to develop strategies to learn (an underdeveloped area of research compared to strategies to teach).
• savoir-être, i.e. the values we, as teachers, embody in the eyes of the students, with a need to further develop intercultural understanding through comparison with one’s own culture.

Finally there was a brief overview of three stages of an academic career (apprentice / professional / leader), with a strong emphasis on the need for formal and informal mentors throughout one’s career.

Supporting teaching and learning in languages, linguistics and area studies: What can the Subject Centre do for you?

John Canning, Subject Centre for LLAS

John Canning provided a comprehensive introduction to LLAS and its resources in different areas:

• Materials: CD-ROMs ‘Why study languages?’; Discover American Studies
• Partnerships: CILT, the National Centre for Languages and Routes into Languages.
• Good Practice Guide, blog, forums
• Research: workshops , conferences, LLAS research projects
• Funding opportunities: research projects, bursaries for attending LLAS workshops, materials development.
• Publications: books, reports, magazine (Liaison from June 2008)

One year on: A perspective from a new lecturer

Sarah Bowskill, Lecturer in Hispanic Studies, Swansea University

The session was dedicated to an overview of the challenges, pitfalls and small victories in the early career of an academic. The issue of the newcomer in a department picking up the teaching nobody can / wants to do, means that Sarah Bowskill, like most young lecturers, finds herself teaching a little of many difference courses/modules, many not directly related to her specialism. Team-teaching creates good opportunities to get to know colleagues and nurture positive relationships.

One of the major issues Sarah Bowskill identified is time-management: the pressure of teaching, administrative tasks and the expectations of the institution in term of research production are challenging. It was also felt that feeling entitled to take a holiday was an important part of this process.

University structures and hierarchies can be another issue. It takes time to identify who’s who and who’s doing what, so it is sometimes difficult to get the right information.

Probation is another important aspect of the new lecturer’s development. It is essential to agree realistic targets and to keep copies of everything.

Finally, help is readily available from various sources: mentors, colleagues, other contacts, Human Resources department, unions, LLAS Subject Centre, library subject specialists, Staff Development department, administrative staff, Information Technology Department, etc.

In the classroom: An open discussion

Vicky Wright, Senior Academic Coordinator Subject Centre for LLAS and Director of Centre for Language Study, University of Southampton

For the purpose of this session, we were split into small groups to discuss what we considered key themes and challenges: we discussed assessment, time-management and the use of diplomacy (with students and colleagues).

Assessment was deemed a key theme because of the amount of time we spend doing it, its potential for becoming a real issue (marking criteria, regulations, complaints, appeals etc.) and more generally because of the questions it raises in terms of learning and teaching, e.g. do we assess the students for their benefit or ours? What does assessment actually assess?

The sense was we were all facing the same questions / issues, usually with a good deal of support from our colleagues.

Career progression and promotion

Vicky Wright, Senior Academic Coordinator Subject Centre for LLAS and Director of Centre for Language Study, University of Southampton

In this session, Vicky Wright explored the various opportunities for career progression, focusing on various areas, including management. She identified clearly the criteria used to define the academic’s role into their institution according to their level within their career pathway. The criteria, according to the Skills and Capability Standards, are as follows:

• Qualifications, knowledge and experience
• Management and teamwork/li>
• Planning and organisation/li>
• Communicating and Influencing/li>
• Problem Solving and Initiative/li>

This session raised awareness of the fact that academic research was not the only opportunity for career progression and that involvement in middle-management, for example, was a valid alternative.

Being a university citizen

Philip Davies, De Montfort University and Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library

This lively session highlighted the necessity for academics to create links within their community both at institutional level and beyond.

Philip Davies explained that serving on institution committees or the boards of associations, research centres, journals, etc, was as essential as publishing. Networking was repeatedly emphasised as crucial to the academic’s career, because:

• it allows the sharing of good practice and dissemination of knowledge;
• it may lead to appointment in other institutions or maybe to a change of career path;
• it leads, overall, to the improvement of the individual and the collective, making the academic an active university citizen.

Abstracts

One year on: A perspective from a new lecturer

Sarah Bowskill, Swansea University

This session aims to give you an insight into some of the experiences I have had in my first year as a lecturer. I will talk about the opportunities and challenges that I have encountered this year in each of the three main aspects of my job - research, teaching and administration.

Issues addressed will include:

• Teaching – what you teach, how much you teach and the tHE scheme.
• Administration – how to manage your administrative role(s).
• Research – how to keep up with your research alongside other responsibilities.

I will also talk about how I have tried to address the requirements for my probation, the people who have helped me in my new job and how I’ve learned to help myself.