Faculty Course Teams: Developing Faculty Agency, Driving Curriculum Innovation, and Fostering Professional Growth

• In Event: Faculty Development

Abstract

In a large teacher preparation program, fulltime/adjunct faculty’s knowledge, pedagogy, efficacy, and collegiality are enhanced by collaborating to design and implement program courses in an Adjunct/Fulltime faculty Course Team professional Community of Practice (CoP). Grounded in research on cultural-historical psychology; situated social practice and learning; communities of practice; and intersubjectivity, we discuss teacher education faculty’s learning experiences through participation in faculty Course Teams, including challenges, deepening practice in facilitation, and expanded insights into fostering their own and others’ learning. The findings, based on a decade of research, practice, and knowledge exchange, discuss the development of faculty agency and the conditions necessary for establishing and sustaining Adjunct/Full-time Faculty Course Teams as a CoP.

Authors

• Elina Lampert-Shepel, Touro University

• Laurie L. Wellner, Touro University