The role identities of discipline-specific facilitators in a multi-tiered professional development program in higher education

ABSTRACTThe study explored the emerging role identities of eleven faculty who served as discipline-specific facilitators in a multi-tiered PD program, as well as the affordances and constraints which contributed to the (mis)alignment between the role identity of facilitator and their other roles as faculty. Taking the collective as the unit-of-analysis, we showed that variations occurred in the salience of facilitators’ self-perceptions, beliefs, goals, and action possibilities. These variations occurred within and across their multiple roles including learner, teacher, researcher, middle leader, and peer roles, and were triggered mainly by the (1) in/compatibility of facilitators’ pedagogical beliefs with PD goals and activities, (2) un/confidence in the facilitator role, and (3) absence/presence of institutional support. We suggest that the PD program provides a useful model for professional learning in Higher Education contexts, and that facilitators’ role identities are important tools worthy of further support and exploration.KEYWORDS: Role identitydiscipline-specific facilitatorprofessional developmenthigher educationQatar AcknowledgementsOpen Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Code availabilityNot applicable.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Qatar University [grant number QUCP-CED-2021-1].Notes on contributorsYoumen ChaabanYoumen Chaaban, Ph.D. is a Research Associate Professor at the Education Research Center, at the College of Education, Qatar University. Her research interests include teacher professional development, professional agency, and teacher leadership. Dr. Chaaban has over 40 research publications in international journals, including original research conducted in Lebanon and Qatar. She has also been actively involved in a number of teacher education programs and professional development programs, where she has held the positions of head of department, curriculum coordinator, and educational consultant.Hessa Al-ThaniHessa Al-Thani, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Education Sciences at the College of Education, Qatar University. Al-Thani’s research focuses on character education, students’ motivation in learning and civic engagement. Al-Thani’s research on student’s achievement and civic engagement was presented at the Comparative and International Education Society in 2019 in San Francisco, California. At Qatar University, Al-Thani is involved in developing new approaches in teaching and learning and is mentoring QU faculty to improve on their teaching. Al-Thani has an extensive experience in the field of research and education in Qatar, having worked as a research assistant for RAND Qatar in 2005. Al-Thani graduated in 2017 from Teachers College at Columbia University earning a PhD degree in Educational Policy and Social Analysis.Xiangyun DuXiangyun Du, Ph.D. is a Professor at the College of Education, Qatar University, and a Professor at Aalborg University UNESCO Center for Problem and Project Based Learning, Denmark. Her main research interests include pedagogical development, particularly, problem-based and project-based learning methods in fields ranging from engineering, medicine and health, foreign languages and teacher education, to diverse social, cultural and educational contexts. She has also engaged with educational institutions in over 20 countries in substantial work on pedagogy and curricula development. Dr. Du has over 170 relevant international publications including monographs, international journal papers, edited books and book chapters, as well as conference contributions. She has also been actively involved in a number of international academic programs, networks, and editorial works for journals.