The rhetoric and reality of good teaching: A case study across three faculties at the Queensland University of Technology

Abstract

Universities now have a lot to say abouttertiary teaching. University policy, teachingunits, and promotion criteria have a veryspecific understanding of good teaching withinthe academy. This case study of QueenslandUniversity of Technology (QUT) found that goodteaching has two central features: it isnecessarily student centred, and it is`innovative’, a characteristic that, at QUT atleast, is increasingly equated with the use oftechnology. This paper – based upon interviewswith twenty-four QUT academics across threefaculties (Education, Science, and Law), ananalysis of QUT's teaching and learningpolicies, and some additional historicalresearch – will suggest four things. First,that the concept of student centred learning,based on ideals of progressive education, isneither an historical inevitability northeoretically unproblematic. Second, thatirrespective of discipline, all lecturersespouse an underpinning `progressive' teachingphilosophy, even though, in practice, teachingstyle appears to be determined primarily bysubject-matter. Third, given that, in practice,the progressive model seems to suit somefaculties and subject areas better than others(i.e. Education, as opposed to Science and Law)this has significant professional implicationsfor the lecturers concerned. Finally, thatrather than promoting a `progressive' pedagogy,the use of technology in teaching actuallyappears to reinforce traditional teachingtechniques. Consequently, it is suggested thatmonolithic understandings of good teaching,when applied across the academy irrespective ofcontext, are often inappropriate, ineffectiveand inequitous, and that universities need tothink through their teaching policies andprogrammes more thoroughly.