Developing effective part-time teachers: a sector perspective

Globally universities rely on sessional staff to teach. The outcome of this reliance is that the majority of teaching is now undertaken by sessional staff and we empirically predict that this will be an enduring feature of the tertiary education workforce. “It seems wrong” (Gibbs, 2012) that students undertaking studies for a degree rarely know that much of their teaching and marking will be undertaken by unqualified graduates or casual teachers.

The panel unpacks the global issues relating to the phenomenon of sessional staff as the predominant providers of teaching in higher education. We also explore multi-level strategies (ranging from national, holistic institutional, faculty, departmental and individual) for managing the inevitable challenges presented. Following each panel presentation, an individual sessional staff member will respond, offering a representative perspective and the voice of sessional staff. It is aimed that the ensuing discussion will work towards collaboratively developing a new vision for enhancing future practice. Each panel member is recognised as a leader in this emerging field.