Associate Professor Mariana Gaio Alves (University of Lisbon) is visiting the Faculty of Education and Culture, hosted by the HET research group and the team of university pedagogy. Organised as part of the visit, the seminar includes a 30-min presentation followed by a discussion. We extend a warm welcome to all members of the university community who are interested in participating.
Presentation abstract: Higher Education Teachers’ Ways Of Being And Acting – An Exploration Using Visual Narratives
Higher education and the teaching profession have been facing increasing challenges in recent decades. Despite the enormous pressure on higher education teachers to change its practices, it has been observed that this type of change does not necessarily follow from political pressure or normative imposition. Instead, it is suggested that pedagogical training might contribute to the reconfiguration of teaching and to improve its quality (Inamorato et al., 2019; Postareff et al., 2007), even if this idea is not fully embedded within higher education institutions restricting opportunities for the professional development of academics.
One previous qualitative study with Portuguese higher education teachers reinforces that formal pedagogical training might support changes in teachers’ conceptions about the meaning of teaching and learning, with effects on teaching practices and on the quality of student learning (Almeida, Viana, Alves, 2022). Being so, the undergoing research aims to analyze if and how teachers’ conceptions about ways of being and acting as higher education teacher are reconfigured across the attendance of a post-graduation degree on pedagogy. Data has been collected throughout a visual narrative approach consisting of drawings and their corresponding explanations produced by a group of 19 Portuguese academics enrolled on the post-graduation at Instituto de Educação – Universidade de Lisboa in 2022/2023.
References:
Almeida, M. M. de, Viana, J., & Alves, M. G. (2022). Exploring Teaching Conceptions and Practices: A Qualitative Study with Higher Education Teachers in Portugal. Studia Paedagogica, 27(2), 35–53. https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2022-2-2
Inamorato dos Santos, A., Gausas, A., Mackeviciute, R., Jotaytyte, A., & Martinaitis, Z. (2019). Innovating Professional Development in Higher Education: An Analysis of Practices. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://dx.doi.org/10.2760/26224
Postareff, L., Lindblom-Ylänne, S., & Nevgi, A. (2007). The effect of pedagogical training on teaching in higher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(5), 557–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.11.013
Mariana Gaio Alves is an Associate Professor with habilitation at Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa (IE-UL) and a researcher at UIDEF – Unit for Research and Development in Education and Training (IE-UL) in Portugal. Currently, she is coordinator of the area of research and teaching in Curriculum, Teacher Training and Technology at IE-UL (http://www.ie.ulisboa.pt/docente/mariana-gaio-alves) and is link convenor of the research network on higher education (network 22) within the European Educational Research Association (https://eera-ecer.de/networks/22-research-in-higher-education/convenors). Her research interests have focused on higher education, lifelong education, the transition to work of higher education graduates and the professional development of teachers. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8895-0796
Recent publications in English on higher education topics:
Almeida, M. M. de, Viana, J., & Alves, M. G. (2022). Exploring Teaching Conceptions and Practices: A Qualitative Study with Higher Education Teachers in Portugal. Studia Paedagogica, 27(2), 35–53. https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2022-2-2
Alves, M. G., & Tomlinson, M. (2021). The changing value of higher education in England and Portugal: Massification, marketization and public good. European Educational Research Journal, 20(2), 176–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904120967574
Silva, C., Lopes, R., Alves, M. G., Cêa, G. (2020). Portraits of the evaluation of higher education: Presentation of cases from Brazil, Portugal and England. Revista Educação Unisinos, 24(2020), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.4013/edu.2020.241.44