Professional Development for Practitioners in Academia: Pracademia (Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, 13)

✍ Scribed by Jill Dickinson (editor), Teri-Lisa Griffiths (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 278
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This multi-disciplinary collection addresses issues relating to current or former practitioners within the context of higher education. Drawing together a range of voices, the contributors explore contemporary issues organised around three core themes of pracademic identities, professional development, and teaching practice. Underpinned by theoretical frameworks, reporting empirical findings, and adopting a reflective lens, this critical examination draws on a range of experiences to provide a deeper understanding of the contribution of pracademics within the sector for stakeholders, including leaders, policy makers and professional bodies, and current and future pracademics.
Dedicated to highlighting the potential of the pracademic contribution, this collection explores key topics including building networks, practice-informed teaching, consultancy, and collaborative research. Contributions investigate some of the practical barriers faced by pracademics making the transition into higher education, including imposter syndrome, cultural adjustment, and managing dual professional identities. The aim of this collection is to champion the benefits of a diverse academy for everyone involved.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgment
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Who or What Are ‘Pracademics’?
The Emergence and Growth of the Pracademic in Higher Education
Pracademic Identities: Professional Values and Esteem
Professional Values
Professional Esteem
Organisation of This Book
Pracademic Identities
Professional Development
Teaching Practice
References
Part I: Pracademic Identities
Chapter 2: ‘Don’t Take Your Briefcase’: Navigating a Career Change from Professional Practice to the Academic Role
Introduction
Methodology
Practices and Procedures of Working in an Academic Role
Findings
Academic First Impressions: Comparisons to Previous Role
Academic First Impressions: The Role of an Academic
Professional and Academic Knowledge
The Knowledge Paradox
The Rise of the Pracademic?
Conclusion
Established Pracademics as Mentors
Dynamic Academic Handbook
Adaptations to Threshold Lecturer Preparation Programmes
Academic Literacy Support
Conversations About the Academic Role
Recommendation to Enhance HE from Pracademics
References
Chapter 3: From Expert to Novice: A Lecturer’s Tale
Introduction
Key Themes
Personal Journey
Finding My Collegial Buddies
Do You Need a PhD?
Making a Successful Transition
Being Authentic
Realistic Expectations and Preparation
Connecting the Dots Between Clinical Practice and Academia
Recruitment
Testing the Water
Structured and Well-Planned Inductions
Buddies and Formal Mentorship
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: The Pracademic: Where Practice Meets Theory. The Value of Practitioner Experience when Teaching and Researching in a Higher Education Environment
Introduction
Key Themes
The Past
The Present
Conclusion
The Future
References
Chapter 5: Imposter Syndrome and the Non-pracademics: A Joint Autoethnographic Account
Introduction
Position Statement
Situating Imposter Syndrome in Debates on Pracademia
Methodology
Diary-Keeping
Data Analysis
Findings
Lack of Lived Experience: “No Time Behind the Wheel”
Networks and Ties: “It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know”
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Grappling with Pracademia in Education: Forms, Functions, and Futures
Introduction
Key Themes
Forms: The Origins of the Pracademic and Pracademia
Functions: Identity
Functions: Theorising Pracademia Through Communities and Landscapes of Practice
Futures: Grappling with Pracademia and the Pracademic
Forms, Functions and Futures of Pracademia
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: ‘Finding Your People’: The Role of Networks in Pracademic Identity Construction
Introduction
Key Themes
My Journey
Pracademia
Future Self-Construction and PhD Supervision
Finding My People: Finding My Discipline
The Housing Studies Association
Finding Your People: Future Self-Construction
Conclusion
References
Part II: Professional Development
Chapter 8: Pracademics: Facilitating Smooth Transition from Industry to Academia
Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Rationales for Making the Move from Practice into Academia
Barriers
Benefits
Smoothing the Transition
Before
During
After
Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: The Value of Objects: How Artefacts Can Enrich Professional Reflection and Reflexivity
Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: From Practice to Theory: The Pracademic and the PhD
Introduction
The Changing Context of Law Schools
A Short History of Law Schools
Research Excellence Framework
Clinical Legal Education
Summary
Methodology
Findings
To What Extent Do Law Schools Require Applicants to Have, or Undertake, a PhD?
The Experience of Those Practitioners Who Have Undertaken a PhD
Reasons for Undertaking the PhD
The Experience of Teaching-Only Interviewees
What Has the Doctorate Given You?
Was the PhD Worth It?
Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: Resilient Networking and Collaboration – Solving the Puzzle: How to Balance Being a Practitioner and a Researcher
Introduction
The Clinical Practitioner’s Puzzle
The ‘Creative Leap’
Creative Idea to Implementation
Key Themes
Finding Belonging Through Relational Resilience
New Ways of Working and Expectations
Receiving Feedback
Growing Personal Resilience Through Challenge
Practical Techniques
Conclusion
References
Chapter 12: How Pracademics Can Help to Address the Rigour-Relevance Gap in Business and Management Schools
Introduction
Key Themes
A Pracademic’s Tale
The Fairy Tale
The Value of Analogies
Pracademics as Interpreters
Challenging the Paradigm and Bringing Common Sense
Pracademia Tomorrow?
A Research Leader’s Tale
Conclusion
Enhancing Pracademics’ Contribution to Business School Success
References
Part III: Teaching Practice
Chapter 13: The Value of Pracademics – Uniquely Placed to Enhance Student Employability
Introduction
Graduate Employability: What it Means and Where We Are Now
How Can ‘Pracademics’ Contribute to Student Employability?
The Higher Education Sector Approach to Addressing Employability
Key Themes
The Value of Pracademics; Personal Reflections of a ‘New Recruit’
Insight and Guidance for Those Considering the ‘Dual Identity’
Benefits and Rewards
The Challenges for Pracademics Today
Conclusion
References
Chapter 14: Those Who Can, Do (and Teach): Developing Simulations to Bring Practitioners and Students Together
Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Simulation as a Pedagogic Tool
Engaging Practitioners
Motivations for Practitioner Engagement
Perceived Benefits to Students
Perceived Benefits to Organisations
Challenges of Delivering Simulations
Resourcing
Student Debrief and Feedback
Implications for Developing Simulations with Practitioners
Conclusion
References
Chapter 15: Construction and Engineering Higher Education: The Role of Pracademics in Recoupling Classical Experiential Educational Norms
Introduction
Key Themes
Classical Patterns of Coupled Built Environment Education
Education in an Increasing Transitionary State of Decoupling
The Gaining Employment Traction of the Career Academic and the Dominance of Research
Recoupling Theory and Practice – The Rebalance Driven via the Teaching Excellence Framework
Returning to Classical Experiential Models – The Growth of a New Voluntary Dual System and the Key Role of Pracademics in Its Success
Conclusion
References
Chapter 16: More than Mere Context: The Role of Former Practitioners in Surveying Education
Introduction
Vocational Degrees
Practitioners in Higher Education
Key Themes
Disciplinary Boundaries
What Is a Discipline?
Teaching Law to Surveying Students
Interdisciplinarity
Pracademics and Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design
Conclusion
References
Chapter 17: Exploring the Value of Autonomy in Clinical Legal Education
Introduction
Key Themes
Clinical Legal Education
The Regulation of Law Clinics
Legal Education
Autonomy
Autonomy and the Lawyer-Client Relationship
Autonomy and Law Reform
Conclusion
References
Chapter 18: Developing Leaders in Business Schools: Academics as “Boundary Spanners”
Introduction
Key Themes
Evolving to Become a Pracademic: Reflecting Back and Looking Forward
Becoming a Pracademic in the Field of Leadership Development
My Professional Journey
Insights Gained on Effective Leaders and Leadership Development
My Take on Leadership Development and What Business Schools Need to Do
Helping Participant-Learners to Learn Leadership in Business Schools
Learning to Lead: The Process
The Role of Academics
Academics as Traditional Academics, Practitioners and Pracademics
Cultivating Pracademics in Business Schools
Conclusion
References
Part IV: Conclusion
Chapter 19: Pracademia: Past, Present, and Where Next?
References
Index