ABSTRACT

Universities might aspire to teaching excellence, but do they enable academic teachers to make good teaching decisions? Using a critical realist perspective, a qualitative interview study in England and Australia explored academics’ experiences of teaching decisions and their responses to strategic, institutional and departmental teaching policy and planning. Complex and contradictory conditions that challenged academics’ experiences of teaching and prevented effective decision-making were found. The paper identifies aspects of university functioning that act to prevent the achievement of teaching excellence. It argues that excellence in teaching requires coherent and integrated approaches and commitment right across the institution. For this to happen, universities need to consider how stated strategic learning and teaching ambitions are communicated, implemented, supported and, importantly, how they are understood and enacted throughout all levels and areas of the organisation, including many that hitherto do not consider they have a role in learning and teaching.

摘要

大学可能渴望卓越的教学，但它们能让学术教师做出良好的教学决策吗？使用批判现实主义的观点，在英格兰和澳大利亚进行的定性访谈研究探讨了学者在教学决策方面的经验以及他们对战略、机构和部门教学政策和规划的反应。发现了复杂而矛盾的条件，这些条件挑战了学者的教学经验并阻碍了有效的决策。本文确定了阻碍实现卓越教学的大学运作方面。它认为，卓越的教学需要整个机构采用一致和综合的方法和承诺。为了实现这一点，