Dear Nancy
I have done considerable work on the issue of 'part-time' teaching in HE whether it be by postgraduates, contract researchers or others, over the last decade or so. I both gathered evidence, written these up and advised on policy at national level in a number of countries.
I would have to caution you against the wisdom of mandating all graduate students to teach. Clearly there is is the category of graduate teaching assistants deployed in many universities. However nearly all these schemes are based on the premise that the individual signs up such a scheme on their own volition and that the teaching component is developmental.
There are considerable risks involved in deploying graduate students in teaching if a strong infrastructure of support and development is not in place and dare I say, an adequate selection and other HR systems s also have to be in place, in order to maintain quality. Indeed it is the dedication and commitment of 'voluntary' graduate student teachers that mitigate some of this risk....
I have come across situations where all doctoral students in some departments are implicitly expected to so a small amount of teaching - and I mean small amount. But of course the priority is completing their doctoral studies, as it should be.
So I must counsel against such a policy of forcing all graduate students to teach even if they were paid the proper rate for the job.
best wishes
Colin Bryson
Director of the Combined Honours Centre
Level G Daysh Building
Newcastle University
http://raise-network.ning.com/
0191 222 6389
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From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nancy Lee [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 July 2011 04:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Graduate/Research Students Teaching at Your University? (2)
I would like to thank those who have responded to our previous posting on the topic 'Graduate/Research Students Teaching at Your University'. It is very useful to learn from your experience in supporting graduate teaching assistants.
However, we are exploring the issue from the perspective of mandating graduate students to teach.
Specifically, we would like to know the following:
(1) Is it a policy at your university that ALL graduate students take up some teaching responsibilities?
(2) If teaching is mandated for graduate students at your University, what is the level of teaching load? Does it affect the duration of study in any way? Is the teaching duties rewarded in any way (e.g. academic credits / salary on top of stipend)?
(3) What is the feedback of students to a policy of mandatory teaching (if it exists)?
Nancy Lee
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