16
This article was downloaded by: [Umeå University Library] On: 06 September 2014, At: 08:00 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Higher Education Research & Development Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cher20 Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts Barbara de la Harpe a & Thembi Mason a a Design and Social Context College Office, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Published online: 31 Jan 2014. To cite this article: Barbara de la Harpe & Thembi Mason (2014) Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts, Higher Education Research & Development, 33:1, 129-143, DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2013.870982 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.870982 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

  • Upload
    thembi

  • View
    212

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

This article was downloaded by: [Umeå University Library]On: 06 September 2014, At: 08:00Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Higher Education Research &DevelopmentPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cher20

Leadership of learning and teaching inthe creative artsBarbara de la Harpea & Thembi Masona

a Design and Social Context College Office, RMIT University,Melbourne, AustraliaPublished online: 31 Jan 2014.

To cite this article: Barbara de la Harpe & Thembi Mason (2014) Leadership of learning andteaching in the creative arts, Higher Education Research & Development, 33:1, 129-143, DOI:10.1080/07294360.2013.870982

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.870982

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Barbara de la Harpe* and Thembi Mason

Design and Social Context College Office, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

The leadership of learning and teaching (L&T) in higher education has evolvedover recent years. Part of the evolutionary process has seen the rise of theappointment of Associate Deans L&T (Academic, Education, inter alia). Implicitin this role is the assumption by many that associate deans are responsible forleading L&T. Through interviews with 25 associate deans with one or morecreative arts disciplines within their remit, we explore the leadership of the L&Tlandscape of the creative arts. We specifically consider the associate deans’understanding of the leadership of L&T, and their perspectives on who isresponsible for the leadership of L&T for the creative arts. Collectively,associate deans articulated a sophisticated understanding of L&T leadership,including the words vision, innovation, strategic thinking, communication,translation, advocacy and influence. However, the variation in individualdescriptions of leadership aspects according to the three L&T leadershipconceptions identified by Marshall and colleagues [(2011). Leading andmanaging learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Research& Development, 30(2), 87–103], ranged from low level understanding to highlevel understanding based on an analysis using the Structured Observed LearningOutcomes taxonomy [Biggs, J., & Collis, K. (1982). Evaluating the quality oflearning: The SOLO taxonomy. New York: Academic Press]. When it came towho was leading L&T, there were diverse views ranging from ‘me’ to ‘no one’.The research suggests that the key to associate deans articulating a moresophisticated view of leadership of L&T may be through attaining a L&Tqualification; having experience in the role; and publishing in the discipline ofhigher education L&T. These findings may guide those recruiting into the fieldof leadership of L&T, and be helpful for those who are planning a career in the area.

Keywords: associate dean; creative arts; leadership; learning and teaching;management

The evolutionary process

Beginning in the early 1990s and for over 20 years now, universities globally have gonethrough rapid transformations. Transformations have included the amalgamation oftechnical colleges into university structures, the inclusion of a much broader socialdemographic of students, the rise of managerialism, reduced funding, the expansionof the overseas student market and a growing recognition of student agency in learning– learning is not about a set curriculum, but about conceptualising the discipline andapplying it to other contexts (Bok, 2006; Chalmers, 2007; Coaldrake & Stedman,1998, 2013; Fink, 2003; Meyers, 2012; Southwell, West, & Scoufis, 2008; Tagg,2003).

© 2014 HERDSA

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Higher Education Research & Development, 2014Vol. 33, No. 1, 129–143, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.870982

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 3: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Higher education institutions have increasingly required strategic leadershipapproaches. This has resulted in many functions being standardised and top-down orcentrally led (Blackmore, 2007; Chalmers, 2007). The need for cross-university leader-ship expertise, incorporating the more ‘generic’ and ‘mainstream’ leadership practicesfrom business has also emerged (Blackmore, 2007).

Rise of the associate dean role

Within this changing landscape the associate dean role emerged in Australia in the1990s, when the Australian Federal Government requested ‘ … systematic evidenceof [universities’] effectiveness and efficiency (e.g., Doyle, 2006; Guthrie &Neumann, 2006; Hayford, 2003) in delivering quality education’ (Chalmers, 2007p. 11). Integral to this was a ‘ … recognition of the importance of teaching and learningto the overall business of the university’ (Lines, 2000, p. 44).

The Australian government commissioned the development of performance indi-cators to assess higher education quality, with institutions receiving differentiallevels of funding depending on their performance against indicators (Linke, 1991). Sig-nificant funding from government followed, and considerable work was undertaken byuniversities to collect and analyse data and then apply findings to improve teaching andlearning. In order to achieve reform and receive funding, many universities created lea-dership roles in learning and teaching (L&T) – the most common being that of Associ-ate Dean, L&T. Staff appointed to these new positions were assumed to have the remitof leading L&T, although this was through influence rather than line management. Intheir mapping of associate dean roles in universities, Scott, Coates, and Anderson(2008, p. xvi) concluded that the role has:

…widely varying meanings and accountabilities across the sector… [with those in therole] having to develop the skills of ‘leading through influence’ and leveraging collegial-ity to engage staff in necessary change.

The role was defined as part of a large Australian Learning and Teaching Councilfunded project (Southwell et al., 2008, p. 50) as:

… a catalyst for change…A/Deans (T&L) were expected to be both a representative ofstudent voice and also a representative of faculty at university level.

In a faculty of life sciences, the role also included quality assurance (Radloff, 2005,p. 74):

These are senior academic positions with responsibility for leading educational change,and enhancing and assuring the quality of teaching and learning across all programswithin a faculty.

In engineering (Bullen, Gibbings, & Brodie, 2010, p. 3) the role was expected to:

… assimilate, integrate, distil, interpret and implement operational and strategic learningand teaching plans through effective leadership and thus is arguably the key position forproviding leadership in engineering learning and teaching.

In a faculty of law (Kift, 2004, p. 8):

130 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 4: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

[t]he A/Dean, L&T position is a role of managing down, up and sideways: of persuadingteaching staff that implementing the institutional agenda will be both valued and of endur-ing value; of persuading institutional management that their expectations of staff shouldbe realistic and appropriately resourced; and of persuading faculty/school leadership thatthe agenda is on a par with institutional exhortations…

Marshall, Orrell, Cameron, Bosanquet, and Thomas (2011, p. 99) single out theassociate dean role which is located in the mid- or ‘meso’-level (faculty/school anddepartment) of universities as important for the following leadership functions: to ‘

… interpret institutional priorities, translate them into faculty – or department-level –actions and encourage staff to support these… [and]… to create a culture whereteaching is supported’.

Notwithstanding variations in definition, the Associate Dean role has slowly cemen-ted itself in the executive of the majority of universities, since the first appointment twodecades ago. The role is seen as making a significant leadership contribution to L&Tand is a critical position within schools and faculties. Analysis of 24 Australian Univer-sities Quality Agency reports on best practices for enhancing L&T (de la Harpe &Radloff, 2006, p. 3), concluded that:

[a]t each level, it is essential that there are clearly defined roles that have responsibility forsupporting learning and teaching. Ideally, each department or schools needs designatedpositions for program leaders, and a director, teaching and learning, as well as adminis-trative positions supporting programs. At faculty level, a senior academic position suchas dean or director responsible for leadership and coordination of learning and teachingand quality assurance across the faculty should be in place.

Leadership for L&T

While there is an extensive body of work exploring leadership generally (Collins, 2004;Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Heifetz, 1994; Jossey-Bass, 2007; Kotter, 2012),there is much less on leadership of L&T in higher education, specifically.

Marshall and colleagues (2011) argue that there are three conceptions core toleadership of L&T. Firstly, to establish a direction or a vision for L&T; secondly, tocommunicate the direction and vision to stakeholders in a manner that encouragesthem to align themselves and their resources with the vision; and thirdly, to motivateand inspire stakeholders to participate in and contribute to the direction andvision. The three conceptions were derived from semi-structured interviews with 36academics from a representative sample of eight Australian universities and from analy-sis of institutional documents. This resulted in a ‘… contextually relevant, evidence-based framework for leadership and management for learning and teaching, groundedin the understandings of higher education practitioners in Australia’ (p. 90).

Marshall and colleagues’ framework was used in this paper to consider associatedeans’ views on leadership in the creative arts (de la Harpe & Mason, 2012; de laHarpe, Mason, & Peterson, 2011; Williams & Otswald, 2008; Williams, Otswald, &Askland, 2010), an area that has attracted little attention, despite the creative arts disciplinesize and scope. In 2009, creative arts in Australia comprised 61,196 students, which madeit larger than a number of disciplines, including education (56,470), engineering andrelated technologies (32,474) and information technology (18,240), and similar in sizeto natural and physical sciences (73,823), health (79,499), and management and com-merce (76,772) (Australian Government Department of Education, 2013).

Higher Education Research & Development 131

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 5: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

In this paper, associate deans’ views of leadership of L&T in the creative arts and whothey believed was responsible for this leadership are explored. Associate deans had one ormore creative arts disciplines in their remit and were from universities across Australia.

Interviews with associate deans responsible for creative arts

Every associate dean (N = 55) responsible for leadership of one or more creative artsdiscipline in six states and one territory in Australia was invited by email to discusstheir views of L&T leadership. This was undertaken as part of the second author’s doc-toral studies. Creative arts disciplines included architecture, art, creative writing, designand the performing arts (music, dance and theatre) – all of which use a studio mode ofL&T.

Twenty-five associate deans (45% response rate) agreed to an interview. In semi-structured interviews, conducted face-to-face or telephonically, views on leadershipfor L&T and how L&T leadership currently operates were sought. Eleven face-to-face interviews were conducted in November/December 2012, and a round via tele-phone in April/May 2013 added 14 to the sample, making a total of 25 interviews.They were asked a number of open-ended questions including:

(1) How many disciplines are you responsible for leading L&T?(2) What is your discipline area?(3) What area do you research and publish in?(4) Views on leadership of L&T

. What is your understanding of leadership of L&T?

. What aspects of the role are you most confident about and why?

. What particular qualities does a L&T leader need in the role?

. What particular qualities do you think you bring to the leadership of L&T in yourrole?

. Can you describe your role and what you were responsible for in terms of leadingL&T?

. How do you see leadership of L&T currently operating in the creative arts?

(5) Who do you think is responsible for leading L&T for the creative arts?

A semi-structured (standardised open-ended) interview format was used so that all inter-views covered the same focus areas (Patton, 1980). Questions were worded identicallyand asked in the same order, but were skipped if the question was answered in responseto a previous one. This approach was deemed appropriate given that preselected topicscould be covered by all interviewees and, thus, responses could be compared. At thissame time, it also provided opportunities for the interviewer to explore further respondentviews (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011; Guthrie, 2010). The interviews (face-to-faceor telephonically) took about one hour and were recorded with permission of the partici-pants. They were held in offices, meeting rooms or boardrooms. Interview recordingswere transcribed and data were analysed using a combination of a top-down or theory-driven method, and a bottom-up or data-driven one, as discussed below.

Responses to 4, Views on leadership of L&T, were analysed using a top-down,theory-driven approach. Responses to the six sub-questions were coded against thethree leadership conceptions identified by Marshall and colleagues. The six sub-

132 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 6: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

questions were analysed together to allow participants enough scope to articulate theirview of leadership of L&T through not only one direct question, but also throughadditional questions that explored how they approached their work, what leadershiptools they deployed and what human characteristics and values they saw as important.This provided greater opportunity for respondents to mention their leadership con-ceptions fully.

The use of Marshall and colleagues’ leadership conceptions was deemed specifi-cally relevant to this study given they were current, specific to leadership of L&T inAustralian contexts, were validated through a recognised peer review process, werepublished in one of the most respected journals of L&T and were publicly availableto build further knowledge in the field. The three leadership conceptions are:

(1) establishing a direction or a vision for L&T (including a sense of purpose,values, principles, strategies, outcomes to be associated with L&T programmesand processes)

(2) communicating the vision and aligning stakeholders (staff, students andothers), strategy (curriculum) and resources with that vision

(3) enabling, motivating and inspiring stakeholders to engage with the vision.

In addition, responses were analysed using the Structured Observed LearningOutcomes (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1982). The SOLO taxonomy added adeeper qualitative level of analysis by providing a picture of respondents’ levels ofunderstanding, in addition to the more quantitative analysis that identified thenumber of times respondents mentioned the leadership conceptions.

The SOLO taxonomy measures understanding of a concept. It comprises five levelsof increasing sophistication, from pre-structural to extended abstract (Figure 1).

Figure 1. SOLO Taxonomy showing five levels of understanding from pre-structural toextended abstract. Source: With permission from Biggs and Tang (2011), Figure 5.1 A Hierar-chy of verbs that may be used to form intended learning outcomes, p. 91.

Higher Education Research & Development 133

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 7: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

How the taxonomy was adapted for use in the analysis of associate deans’ views onL&T leadership is outlined below:

Pre-structural: missed the point, used tautology to cover lack of understanding orknowledge, did not mention any of Marshall and colleagues’ leadershipconceptions (the focus was often only on management conceptions)

Unistructural: one leadership conception defined, other important attributes missed, notrelated to an overall picture of leadership; simple and obviousconnections identified, but their significance not grasped

Multistructural: two or more leadership conceptions mentioned but not structured, themeta-connections missed and their significance not grasped (sees theparts but misses the whole)

Relational: all leadership conceptions compared, explained, related, analysed andintegrated (significance of the parts seen in relation to the whole)

Extendedabstract:

not only were conceptions of leadership related and integrated but alsohypotheses made, together with reflection, theorising and the generationof new understandings; connections made going beyond the immediateto generalise, theorise and reflect on the concept.

The levels are seen as hierarchical with each level building on the previous one.Pre-structural to multistructural levels are seen as quantitative, focusing on volumeof detail. For relational and extended abstract, there is a shift to being qualitative,with a focus on integration, structuring and/or theorising. There is a distinctionbetween the lower levels of knowing about and the upper levels of integrating andrestructuring knowledge. According to Biggs and Tang (2011, p. 90):

Uni- and multistructural levels see understanding as a quantitative increase in what isgrasped… the higher level contains the lower level, plus a bit more. The ‘bit more’ inthe case of multistructural incorporates the unistructural, then there is more of the same– a purely quantitative increase. The ‘bit more’ at relational level structures all those mul-tistructural bits and pieces thereby involving a qualitative change, a conceptual restructur-ing of the components, by seeing that the systems property integrates the components. Thenext shift to extended abstract takes the argument to a new dimension. [In this way the]SOLO describes a hierarchy, where each partial construction becomes the foundation onwhich further learning is built.

Responses to 5,Who do you think is responsible for leading L&T for the creative arts?were analysed using a bottom-up or data-driven method (Lodico, Spaulding, &Voegtle, 2006). Respondents were asked an open question regarding who was respon-sible for leading L&T for the creative arts rather than selecting from a range of pre-determined options, which may have influenced their responses.

Data were analysed by the researchers, first coding independently. The tworesearchers then compared coding by working together and discussing their individualcoding to reach agreement. In this way, themes were refined to ensure that all commentswere similar (internally homogeneous) and were distinctly different (heterogeneous)(Merriam et al., 2002). Themes were, thus, combined and reduced ‘ … to eliminat[e]overlap and produc[e] a more coherent view of the patterns in the data’ (Lodicoet al., 2006, p. 307) based on the input from the two researchers. The final categoris-ation was then determined in this way, and the validity of the analysis strengthened.It is acknowledged, however, that as in all qualitative analyses based on interviewdata there is a possibility that data could be coded in different ways and meaningscould be interpreted differently by different researchers. The researchers attempted at

134 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 8: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

all times to ‘… preserve the qualitative research attitude of reflexivity and critique… toavoid misrepresenting… findings and the research participants’ experiences fromwhich these findings derive’ (Sandelowski & Barrosso, 2006, p. 1943).

Discipline background was determined by combining the associate deans’ under-graduate and postgraduate (PhD or doctorate) discipline areas. Both discipline areaswere listed when there was a change in discipline from undergraduate to postgraduate(PhD or doctorate) study, for example, ‘creative arts/higher education’.

The area in which associate deans published was based both on their response to thequestion ‘What area do you research and publish in?’ and through a web search of theirrecent (last five years’) publications to triangulate the data from the interviews. Googlescholar, university profile pages and other links through the Google search engine wereused to access this information. The focus was on the topic area of the publication andnot on where it was published. Thus, an article which discusses a disciplinary L&Tapproach was counted as L&T regardless of where published.

Numbers and percentages have been used in presenting the data to assist in deter-mining the patterns and distributions. According to Dey (2005, p. 4) ‘… there is noreason to exclude quantitative methods, such as enumeration and statistical analysis,from the qualitative toolkit’ with Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 253) pointing out simi-larly for qualitative data, that ‘[t]here are three good reasons to resort to numbers: to seerapidly what you have in a large batch of data; to verify a hunch or hypothesis; and tokeep yourself analytically honest, protecting against bias’.

Of the 25 associate deans interviewed, the majority (18 or 72%) had oversight of amix of creative arts and other disciplines, while the minority (7 or 28%) had responsi-bility for creative arts disciplines only. Of those leading only creative arts disciplines,five were responsible for more than one creative arts discipline, while two had respon-sibility for only one creative arts discipline.

In terms of disciplinary backgrounds, the majority (17 or 68%), had the same under-graduate and postgraduate disciplinary background (seven creative arts; six humanities;two education; one business and one engineering). A small minority had a mix ofundergraduate discipline and postgraduate higher education backgrounds (6 or 24%)or creative arts and humanities (2 or 8%).

In the next section, we present the 25 associate deans’ views of leadership of L&T.Any generalisations to the larger population should be made with care, given thequalitative nature of the data, the possible variation in the re-presentation andinterpretation of data during the coding process, and the limited sample size (eventhough it represented just under half of the total population of associate deansresponsible for creative arts).

Leadership of L&T

As mentioned, responses from associate deans, with creative arts disciplines in theirremit, to their ‘Views on leadership of L&T through the six sub-questions’ werecoded using the three conceptions of leadership of L&T identified by Marshall andcolleagues (2011). Collectively, associate deans articulated a view that supported asophisticated understanding of leadership of L&T, using the words vision, innovation,strategic thinking, communication, translation, advocacy and influence. Their viewsincorporated the three conceptions. For example:

(1) Establishing a vision or direction for L&T:

Higher Education Research & Development 135

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 9: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

[L]eaders have to think through beyond the day-to-day operational thing in a very vision-ary way about well theorised, well conceptualised, evidence-based approaches to learningand teaching… and I think this is really important so that you join the dots of a wholerange of activities and initiatives that might happen…How can it be better? How dowe know and think strategically? [5]

The ability to stand above and to be able to see the whole picture and be able to see thepatterns and developments that need to occur across. [14]

It’s about innovating in the teaching and learning space. [1]

(2) Communicating the vision and aligning stakeholders (staff, students and others),strategy (curriculum) and resources with that vision:

It is around facilitating communication… [1]

… ability to communicate either personally or via certain websites or emails (or whateverforms of communication that are going to work) are essential to developing a commonunderstanding and consensus. [3]

My actual role is translating the needs of the university in to the [local] context and theneeds of the [local context] to the university context. [4]

(3) Enabling, motivating and inspiring staff, students and others to engage with thevision:

It’s about brokering relationships between people, within people, to actually introducethem to new ideas and things like that. And then it’s really about integrating all ofthose things. [9]

Trying to ensure an empowering culture about learning and teaching for staff and stu-dents, in this most complex time for changing work in the university system. [10]

The number of leadership conceptions mentioned by each associate dean and their dis-ciplinary background is shown in Table 1.

Analysis of the data (Table 1) suggested that two or fewer conceptions were mostlikely mentioned by associate deans (17 or 68%). Those who mentioned only one ornone (5 or 20%) were most likely to have a background in the creative arts. Themost mentioned leadership conception was establishing a vision or direction (Table 2).

Table 1. Number of leadership conceptions mentioned by associate deans and disciplinarybackground (N = 25).

Leadershipconceptions Number Disciplinary background

None mentioned 4 Creative Arts (3), Creative Arts/Humanities (1)One mentioned 1 Creative Arts (1)Two mentioned 12 Creative Arts (3), Humanities (3), Humanities/Higher

Education (2), Business (1), Engineering (1), Education (1),Creative Arts/Humanities (1)

Three mentioned 8 Humanities (3), Creative Arts/Higher Education (2), Science/Higher Education (2), Education (1)

Source: Conceptions based on Marshall and colleagues. (2011).

136 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 10: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

In terms of levels of understanding of leadership for L&T, the SOLO taxonomyanalysis (Table 3) suggested that the majority of associate deans (19 or 76%) weremost likely to show a pre-, uni- or multistructural understanding of leadership. Onlysix (24%) were likely to demonstrate a relational or extended abstract level (or a quali-tative understanding) where the significance of the parts was seen in relation to thewhole. This suggests that the majority may have either missed the point (or discussed

Table 2. Number of times each leadership conception mentioned (N = 25).

Leadership conception Number

1 Establishing vision/direction 192 Communicating vision, aligning resources and encouraging others to align 153 Motivating and inspiring stakeholders 15

Source: Conceptions based on Marshall and colleagues. (2011).

Table 3. Level of understanding, background discipline, L&T qualification, area of publicationand years in leadership of learning and teaching role (N = 25).

SOLO level NumberBackgrounddiscipline

L&Tqualification

Area ofpublication

Years inL&T

leadership

Pre-structural 4 Creative Arts (3),Creative Arts/Humanities (1)

None (4) None (3) <1 yr (1), 1–5 yrs (1),5–10 yrs(1), >10yrs (1)

Discipline (1)

Unistructural 9 Creative Arts (4)Humanities (3),Creative Arts/Humanities (1),Humanities/HigherEducation (1)

None (7),Grad Cert(1), Dip Ed(1)

Discipline(7),Disciplineand HEL&T (1),None (1)

<1 yr (2), 1–5 yrs (6),>10 yrs(1)

Multistructural 6 Humanities (2),Business (1),Education (1),Science/HigherEducation (1),Humanities/HigherEducation (1)

None (3), B.Ed (1), M.Ed (1) GradCert (1)

Discipline(4),Disciplineand HEL&T (1),HE L&T(1)

1–5 yrs (2),5–10 yrs(2), >10yrs (2)

Relational 4 Humanities (1),Engineering(1), CreativeArts/HigherEducation (1),Science/HigherEducation (1)

PG TeachingCerts (2),Grad Cert(1), Dip. Ed(1)

HE L&T (3),Discipline(1)

5–10 yrs (2),>10 yrs(2)

ExtendedAbstract

2 Creative Arts/HigherEducation (1),Education (1)

M.Ed and B.Ed

HE L&T (1),Disciplineand HEL&T (1)

>10 yrs (2)

Higher Education Research & Development 137

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 11: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

only managerial aspects), focused on only one conception of leadership or listed con-ceptions without structuring or explaining the meta-connections and/or their signifi-cance. Very few integrated the leadership conceptions, seeing the significance of theparts in relation to the whole and/or theorising or reflecting upon them.

Additionally, the data suggested that those with a background in only a creative artsdiscipline (7 or 28%) were more likely to demonstrate a lower level of understanding ofleadership of L&T according to the SOLO taxonomy analysis. However, this was notthe case when combined with postgraduate study in higher education (PhD or docto-rate), with those with a PhD or doctorate more likely to demonstrate a higher levelof understanding in leadership of L&T. This generally held when any discipline wascombined with postgraduate study in higher education.

In terms of L&T qualifications, just over half of the associate deans did not have aL&T qualification and were more likely to demonstrate a quantitative (pre-structural,unistructural or multistructural) understanding of leadership of L&T. In fact, at therelational and extended abstract levels (qualitative levels) only associate deans with aL&T qualification were represented at these levels.

In terms of area of publication, the analysis suggested that the four who did notpublish at all were more likely to be at the pre-structural or unistructural level, whilethose who published in higher education (L&T), either alone or in combination withtheir discipline area, were more likely to display higher levels of understanding ofleadership of L&T.

In terms of experience in L&T roles, analysis suggested that more experience inL&T roles may be associated with a higher level of understanding of L&T leadership.

Engaging in the scholarship of learning and teaching (SoTL) has been shown toincrease the professionalisation of higher education teaching and learning and impacton university cultures (Shreeve, 2011). In an environment where top-down, manageri-alist approaches to change are perceived as dominating, ‘… SoTL is a ground-upopportunity to be part of the change culture and to inform managers of the nature ofthe lived experience of teaching and learning’ (Shreeve, 2011, pp. 72–73). Undertakingthe scholarship of teaching and learning has been reported to increase an institution’sresponsiveness and its collective learning.

Furthermore, engaging in the SoTL activities has individual rewards by enablingstaff to move into leadership positions in administration, institutional governance, cur-riculum reform, as well as advocacy roles (Hutchings, Huber, & Ciccone, 2011). InShulman’s words (2000, p. 53) ‘[s]cholarship of teaching and learning supports ourindividual and professional roles, our practical responsibilities to our students andour institutions, and our social and political obligations to those that support andtake responsibility for higher education.’

Additionally, undertaking a L&T qualification such as a Graduate Certificate inHigher Education has been found to ‘… lead to more student-focusedperspectives on teaching and learning and more effective teaching and learningpractices’ (Ginns, Kitay, & Prosser, 2008, p. 175), as well as supporting ‘… thetransition into confident and competent higher education professionals’ (Butcher &Stoncel, 2012, p. 149).

That various levels of understanding of the leadership of L&T emerged collectivelyin the group suggests that active participation in a collegial network for associate deansresponsible for leadership of the creative arts may play an important role in supportingthem in their work in the leadership of L&T, strengthening their influence and devel-oping their expertise (de la Harpe, Mason, & Brien, 2012).

138 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 12: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

In the next section, we explore associate deans’ responses to the question ‘Who doyou think is responsible for leading L&T for the creative arts?’.

Views on who is leading creative arts L&T

In response to the question regarding responsibility for leading L&T in the creative arts,just under half (8 or 40%) believed that academic staff in the disciplines were respon-sible for leading L&T in the creative arts disciplines. Fewer (6 or 24%) reported thatthey believed they were responsible for leading the creative arts collaboratively witheither academic staff in the disciplines and/or the dean or others (Table 4). Equallysix (24%) believed that they (5 or 20%) or the dean (1 or 4%) were solely responsiblefor leadership. Surprisingly, five (20%) did not see anyone leading (3 or 12%) or had noidea (2 or 8%) who was leading L&T in the creative arts.

Those who thought it was academic staff in the discipline commented:

I think the staff in the schools themselves. I think the people who have that rich disciplineknowledge… I think in terms of the discipline, they’re the experts. [8]

I think it [is] people from within the field rather than people outside. [1]

I think that most of the interesting things that I’ve become aware of have actually hap-pened within departments, frequently without being well known to other departmentsin the same institution. [4]

Those who thought it was the associate dean leading collaboratively with otherscommented,

I think the [associate dean] plays an important role, but I think it’s something that he or sheneeds to collaborate with other colleagues within the faculty. [3]

Well… the associate heads of school… the head of school obviously has to take aresponsibility for that as well and then the associate dean… [also the] individual academicwho’s well developed, who’s well-rounded, who gets what they’re doing actually goingout there and instigating a project or making an innovation or taking an initiative… [11]

I think it should start with what does the local community want, what do the professionalbodies want, what do the students want out of their experience, what do the staff think areimportant. And then you go onto more the management levels, you know the heads ofschool, the course directors, the associate dean. Then within the university, the DVCAwho has got that very senior position should be helping and looking at the biggerpicture of what is needed. Then of course in Australia, I would hope to see that the Crea-tive Arts Learning and Teaching network are going to start to influencing… [16]

Table 4. Responsibility for L&T leadership in the creative arts disciplines (N = 25).

Person responsible Number

Academic staff in the disciplines 8Associate dean L&T with academic staff in disciplines and/or local L&T leader 6Associate dean L&T 5Nobody 3No idea 2Dean 1

Higher Education Research & Development 139

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 13: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Finally, the associate deans who thought nobody was leading L&T in the creative artsor who stated that they did not know commented:

I don’t think anybody is… I just think a loose conglomeration of crazy cats is probablythe best we are ever going to get. [2]

Everyone’s responsible for it but nobody – I’d like to think they were… I think theproblem is we’re all doing our own little thing… some of us are writing on it, some ofus are discussing it, some people are getting together and doing projects [but] itdoesn’t sort of work enough. [14]

I don’t think there’s actually anyone who is clearly responsible for it… There is no clearlydefined leader I suppose of creative arts here. [12]

I have no idea. [15]

The findings above paint a picture of a diverse range of views around who is respon-sible for leading L&T in the creative arts, from leader-centric to laissez-faire. Giventhe prevalence of a dispersed/distributed view of leadership in the contemporary litera-ture and its link to transformational change outcomes (Jossey-Bass, 2007), it was sur-prising that only about a quarter expressed this view. This view of leadership privilegesa collective and process-driven leadership style focusing on mutual power and respon-sibility in defined contexts. This view moves leadership away from individualistic,leader-centred, hierarchical styles focused on standard outcomes, using commandand control strategies (Kezar, Carducci, & Contreras-McGavin, 2006).

Given the creative arts disciplines are divergent, soft and applied in nature with indi-vidual creativity core to their being (Becher, 1989; Biglan, 1973), it is imagined that aview of leadership that values a dispersed style over a central leadership/managementstyle would be preferable to those within these disciplines. Associate deans working inthe creative arts may find that it is best to instigate change with creative art local leadersand academics who individually and anarchically create excellence (Gibbs, Knapper, &Piccinin, 2008). Since, for academics in the creative arts disciplines, at the heart of therole is for the associate dean to be able to communicate with them and be an advocatefor them (de la Harpe & Mason, 2012).

Concluding comments

The findings above suggest that when asked for their views on leadership the majorityof associate deans with responsibility for leading L&T for the creative arts articulated alower or quantitative level of leadership understanding using the SOLO taxonomy.Those associate deans who had a more sophisticated conception of L&T leadershipwere more likely to have a disciplinary background that included a PhD or doctoratein higher education and a qualification in L&T. They were also more likely to have pub-lished in the area of higher education L&T and been in the role for some time. Thosedemonstrating the lowest leadership understanding were more likely to have a disci-plinary background in the creative arts and to publish about the creative arts, if theypublished at all.

For associate deans with creative arts in their remit, to hold a view that it was solelyacademic staff in the creative arts or that they did not know who was leading or thatnobody was responsible for the leadership of L&T in the creative arts is at odds withtheir role and responsibilities. As discussed, the role assumes supporting the

140 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 14: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

development, communication and realisation of a vision and direction for the future ofL&T in all the disciplines for which they have responsibility.

For those charged with leadership of the creative arts, undertaking postgraduatestudy in higher education, gaining a qualification in L&T and engaging in thescholarship of teaching and learning are central. In addition, seeing the role as connect-ing to, and drawing on local creative arts disciplinary leadership and the strengths of staffmembers in the discipline through the use of inclusive leadership models that engagemultiple perspectives and are collaborative, can only lead to positive outcomes for all.

ReferencesAustralian Government Department of Education. (2010). 2009 Full Year Student Summary

tables. Canberra. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from http://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2009-full-year-student-summary-tables

Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the cultures of dis-ciplines. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Biggs, J., & Collis, K. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning: The SOLO taxonomy.New York: Academic Press.

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university (4th ed.). Maidenhead:McGraw-Hill and Open University Press.

Biglan, A. (1973). Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure andoutput of university departments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), 204–213.

Blackmore, P. (2007). Disciplinary difference in academic leadership and management andits development: A significant factor? Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 12(2),225–239.

Bok, D. (2006). Our underachieving colleges: A candid look at how much students learn andwhy they should be learning more. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bullen, F., Gibbings, P., & Brodie, L. (2010, October 27–30). Leading engineering learning andteaching in Australia, Refereed proceedings of the 40th Annual Frontiers in EducationConference (FIE2010), Arlington, VA.

Butcher, J., & Stoncel, D. (2012). The impact of a postgraduate certificate in teaching in highereducation on university lecturers appointed for their professional expertise at a teaching-leduniversity: ‘It’s made me braver’. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(2),149–162.

Chalmers, D. (2007). A review of Australian and international quality systems and indicators oflearning and teaching. Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Chippendale, NSW:Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Retrieved December17, 2013, from http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/T%2526L_Quality_Systems_and_Indicators.pdf

Coaldrake, O.P., & Stedman, L. (1998). On the brink: Australian universities confronting theirfuture. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.

Coaldrake, O.P., & Stedman, L. (2013). Raising the stakes: Gambling with the future of univer-sities. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education (7th ed.). Oxon:Routledge.

Collins, J. (2004). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap… and others don’t.London: Random House Business Books.

Dey, I. (2005). Qualitative data analysis: A user friendly guide for social scientists. London:Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Gibbs, G., Knapper, C., & Piccinin, S. (2008). Disciplinary and contextually appropriate

approaches to leadership of teaching in research-intensive academic departments inhigher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 62(4), 416–436.

Ginns, P., Kitay, J., & Prosser, M. (2008). Developing conceptions of teaching and the scholar-ship of teaching through a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. International Journalfor Academic Development, 13(3), 175–185.

Higher Education Research & Development 141

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 15: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership, realizing the power ofemotional intelligence. New York: St Martin’s Press.

Guthrie, G. (2010). Basic research methods: An entry to social science research. India: SAGE.de la Harpe, B., &Mason, T. (2012). The dilemma of formal learning and teaching leadership in

the creative arts (TEXT Special issue 16). Retrieved December 17, 2013, from http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue16/delaHarpe&Mason.pdf

de la Harpe, B., Mason, T., & Brien, D. (2012). Strengthening learning and teaching leadershipin the creative arts: createED 2009–2012 (TEXT Special issue 16). Retrieved December 17,2013, from http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue16/delaHarpe&Mason&Brien.pdf

de la Harpe, B., Mason, T., & Peterson, J.F. (2011). Reflections on establishing a network tostrengthen leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts. TEXT Special IssueWebsite Series No. 12. Leadership in writing and the creative arts 15(2): 1–22.

de la Harpe, B., & Radloff, A. (2006). Building on AUQA learning and teaching commendationsin devolved institutional contexts. Refereed proceedings of the Australian UniversitiesQuality Forum, Perth, Western Australia.

Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/HarvardUniversity Press.

Hutchings, P., Huber, M.T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learningreconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Jossey-Bass. (2007). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. San Francisco, CA:Jossey Bass.

Kezar, A.J., Carducci, R., & Contreras-McGavin, M. (2006). Rethinking the ‘L’ word in highereducation: The revolution of research on leadership (ASHE Higher Education Report).New York: Wiley Periodicals.

Kift, S. (2004). Between a rock and several hard places: Where does a faculty learning & teach-ing sub-dean sit and what is that role? HERDSA News, 26(3), 8–11.

Kotter, J.P. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Press.Lines, R. (2000). Implementing teaching change: An exploration and dissemination of the ways

the Australian Technology Network (ATN) Universities are implementing their visions forchange and improvement in teaching and learning. Melbourne: RMIT BusinessEducational Services Group.

Linke, R.D. (1991). Performance indicators in higher education: Report of a trial evaluationstudy, 1. Canberra: Department of Employment Education and Training.

Lodico, M.G., Spaulding, D.T., & Voegtle, K.H. (2006). Methods in educational research:From theory to practice (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Marshall, S., Orrell, J., Cameron, A., Bosanquet, A., & Thomas, S. (2011). Leading and mana-ging learning and teaching in higher education.Higher Education Research & Development,30(2), 87–103.

Merriam, S.B., & Associates. (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussionand analysis. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Meyers, D. (2012). Australian universities: A portrait of decline, AUPOD. Retrieved December17, 2013, from http://www.australianuniversities.id.au/

Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Patton, M.Q. (1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.Radloff, A. (2005). Decentralised approaches to education development: Supporting quality

teaching and learning from within a faculty. In K. Fraser (Ed.), Educational developmentand leadership in higher education (pp. 72–87). Oxford: RoutledgeFalmer.

Sandelowski, M., & Barrosso, J. (2006). Handbook for synthesizing qualitative research.New York: Springer. Retrieved December 17, 2013, from http://bit.ly/1f9sEoR

Scott, G., Coates, H., & Anderson, M. (2008). Learning leaders in times of change: AcademicLeadership Capabilities for Australian Higher Education. Retrieved December 17, 2013,from http://research.acer.edu.au/higher_education/3

Shreeve, A. (2011). Joining the dots: The scholarship of teaching as part of institutional research.Higher Education Research & Development, 30(1), 63–74.

Shulman, L. (2000). From Minsk to Pinsk: Why a scholarship of teaching and learning? Journalof Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (JoSoTL), 1(1), 48–53.

142 B. de la Harpe and T. Mason

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014

Page 16: Leadership of learning and teaching in the creative arts

Southwell, D.M., West, D., & Scoufis, M. (2008). Caught between a rock and several hardplaces: cultivating the roles of the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) and theCourse Coordinator (A report for the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching inHigher Education). Retrieved December 17, 2013, from http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-cultivating-the-roles-of-the-associate-dean-qut-2008

Tagg, J. (2003). The learning paradigm college. Bolton, MA: Anker.Williams, T., & Otswald, M.J. (2008). Understanding Architectural education in Australasia.

Volume 2: Results and recommendations. Sydney: ALTC.Williams, A., Otswald, M.J., & Askland, H. (2010). Creativity, design and education: Theories,

positions and challenges. Sydney: Print National.

Higher Education Research & Development 143

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Um

eå U

nive

rsity

Lib

rary

] at

08:

00 0

6 Se

ptem

ber

2014