The critical-constructive potential of academic development: a case study

Abstract

In universities worldwide, there is an increased reliance on academic developers to contribute to enhancing higher education. As critical-constructive agents within their universities, academic developers have the potential to contribute to changes on the institutional level as well as on the level of educational practices. While such a role has been discussed in previous research, there are few empirical studies showing what it may look like in practice and how it may be nurtured and sustained. In this article, we explore the growth of an academic development unit over time, tracing its incremental shift from a constricted position with limited legitimacy and agency but emergent critical-constructive voices in 2016, to a centre holding an integrated and strategic position with a critical-constructive focus on the educational and societal mission of the university in 2021. The study contributes (1) an empirical example of how an increasingly integrated, influential and critical-constructive academic development unit may be nurtured; and (2) a conceptual framework to understand and enhance the critical-constructive potential of academic development.