Professional development for part-time teachers in challenging times

The proportion of part-time university teachers has risen steeply in the last decade, reflecting changing university curricula, increasing student numbers and in tandem with external scrutiny of teaching quality. Most universities offer fulltime academics teaching-related professional development, but part-timers’ tangential relationships and precarious (Standing 2014) status in universities may mean they are unaware of it for their present or (uncertain) future work, while being subject to the same levels of scrutiny as full-timers. Harvey & Luzia 2013; Leigh 2014; Beaton 2017 have highlighted the diversity of part-time teachers. Graduate Teaching Assistants, Hourly Paid Lecturers and industry practitioners have varying levels of HE teaching experience and different professional development needs. This paper draws on literature, national data and institutional case studies to consider how institutional policies and professional development can best address this diversity to ensure a quality experience for staff and students.