Towards a conceptual model of the ‘teaching-engaged academic’: An interplay between institutional frameworks, academic development provision and epistemological beliefs

Over 800 academics in eight higher education institutes in the Dublin region responded to the 2010 - 2011 online survey ‘Voices of Academics in Ireland’. The survey was conceived in part to provide direction to the academic development programme of the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance. I discuss findings from the open-ended question:‘How would you promote good teaching in higher education’.The answers were coded in line with qualitative thematic analysis with three themes emerging: 1) Institutional frameworks; 2) Structure of academic development provision; 3) Epistemological beliefs towards teaching. From those three themes and their respective subcategories I attempt to build a model to describe the phenomenon of academics engaging/disengaging in professional development related to teaching. The model outlines possible individual and institutional barriers and motivations that may influence whether or not an academic invests time and resources into improving their teaching practice.