Abstract
Reflecting on the experiences of a small remote campus in a change management process, this paper foregrounds the importance of the collegial development of part time casual tutors. The discussion documents the way reflective practice is developed where these staff are facilitated in becoming a community of learners. Reflective practice refers to the interrogation of current practices through discussion, reflection and the potential process of improvement as a result. Development of part time casual tutors in the learning community on the campus and in the wider community is critical on a small campus where subject delivery is controlled from a remote home campus. Community engagement provides the means by which the learning community on campus becomes part of the wider potential learning in the community. This is especially so with the development of knowledge intensive industries where universities can act as 'knowdes' in the knowledge web of the community. Where the tutors are employed in other businesses in the community, synergy is gained in the process. Developing the community of learners supports university learning and teaching policy and strategy, and in particular, the embedding of graduate attributes into subjects and courses. Because of the size of the campus and its remote location relative to the home campus, it is possible that the practices reflected upon provide insights for universities generally as they tussle with the development of learning communities inclusive of part time casual tutors.
Publication Details
This article was originally published as Collins, R, Small campus, collegial development, a community and learning: Some reflections on developing reflective practice amongst part time casual tutors, Proceedings of the Teaching and Learning Forum, Murdoch University, 3-4 February 2005. Original article available here.