A study of personal learning profiles of managers and the potential effect on professional development of teaching staff

Abstract

A set of predefined meetings during a college year, including planning, evaluation and rewarding meetings between line management and staff, is one step to formally discuss the development and qualities of teaching staff. It can be difficult for both managers and staff to get a grip on professional development. Key issues, for example, need to be addressed for agreement to be reached on performance and development. This paper addresses managers’ personal learning profile and the extent to which this affects professional development of teaching staff. A semi-structured interview was used to create a portrait of each manager: their own personal development, turning points in life, education and career, and the interventions they choose to support professional development of their team members. This learning profile was then examined to see if this related to the interventions taken by managers to develop their team. A questionnaire was used to collect data on managers preferred learning habits and learning environment (the learning profile). The questionnaires data was analysed and conclusions and further discussions have been shared among participants. Factors influencing professional development like organisational standards and policy, organisational culture, and financial or technical facilities were not part of this research, because all participants worked at the same organisation. Findings indicate that managers at a university prefer two orientations to learning, discover and participate, and that they prefer the standard possibilities available to them, and that this is influenced by the institution.