This week we spent time in our group discussion examining the role of the teacher in health disciplines. It was interesting to examine the role that tenure plays in academic institutions teaching faculty. While tenure is shown to be an important element in ensuring academic freedom for teachers, it really made me wonder about the difficulty in combing the need to research with the time needed to develop teaching skills. Universities mission, vision, and values statement frequently include a research focused theme. Is the scholarship of teaching lost in the drive to publish high quality research in order to obtain tenure?
Interestingly, some recent research shows that teachers with balanced workloads and a focus on ‘teaching only’ versus ‘specialized research’ positions where some of the factors that contributed to workplace satisfaction and positively motivated teachers (Watt & Richardson, 2020). As the focus of my masters degree has been teaching, I have learned so much about the knowledge and skills that are required to be a quality teacher. Much like nursing, developing teaching skills is a lifelong process that requires time and attention. On top of maintaining a work and life balance, I can't imaging how difficult it would be to develop research while learning to teach.
While the intention of my career path has always been to remain in the hospital setting, this learning has taught me something important about considering my options for future positions. If I were to consider teaching in a university understanding the expectations for research and teaching would be an important consideration. How would I balance these expectations with my home life? What sort of support does the institution provide in order to achieve these expectations. Would I want to consider tenure focused paths?
Reference
Watt, H. M. G., & Richardson, P. W. (2020). Motivation of higher education faculty: (How) it matters! International Journal of Educational Research, 100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101533
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