Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE): A Peer-Driven Faculty Development Program

Abstract

Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Created and led by faculty members and educational developers, EnLITE is designed to engage participants in the principles, practice and theory of teaching and learning in higher education and to promote a learner-centred approach to teaching. Participants critically examine and discuss scholarly topics on teaching and learning and in their own disciplines; collaborate with one or more teaching mentors; engage in peer classroom observation; and participate in other teaching-related activities informed by their individual learning plans. Our objective was to determine the perceived impact of EnLITE on participants’ teaching-related practices and experiences. We collected pre-, post- and one-year post-program quantitative and qualitative survey responses from each of the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 EnLITE cohorts (N = 17 participants representing a variety of disciplines; 71% female). There were significant improvements in participants’ perceived teaching practices related to critical self-reflection (13% increase from pre- to one-year post-program), student engagement (+28.2%), collaborative learning (+31%) and learner-centred pedagogy (+22.9%, all p < 0.05). There was little to no change in use of technology, student assessment, leadership, participation in communities of practice, or dissemination of teaching-related scholarship. These results provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a peer-driven faculty development program in promoting a learning-centred approach to teaching. Future research should determine whether these changes translate into improved student learning, and whether such programs demonstrate longer term improvements in engagement in teaching-related leadership, communities of practice and dissemination.