Abstract:
Curriculum design is an expectation for contemporary academics and learning leaders play a crucial and central role, however it is not a simple process. It necessarily involves ongoing complicated conversations with self and others (Krause 2023). This study explores the professional identity development of two leaders in higher education who, over the past decade, have worked in a range of program and curriculum reviews
Collaborative philosophical autoethnography (CPAE) is being self and collectively reflexive and critically reflective about assumptions and employing new concepts if the current ones have failed (Grant, 2024). A recent review found no studies exploring how CPAE is used in the identity work of learning leaders in HE. This study set out to address this under theorised area and as a result better help the author participant researchers and others understand how they could lead by learning from their mistakes.
This study employed a CPAE methodology and a three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework. Our specific research questions were:
What happens when you set out to lead a caring curriculum program design with a premise of a shared vision?
What are the macro, meso, and micro factors at play?
The participant researchers attended monthly storytelling sessions aimed to elicit various aspects of their experiences. These were analysed closely, read and re-read and when data saturation reached, the quotes best representing the themes were mutually arrived at.
The data revealed their growth, satisfaction, and tensions resulting from experiences and practices of program review. It also identified the organisational factors (macro, meso, and micro) that influence program design processes and outcomes including leadership approaches; the nature of communication and work and decision making. It also highlights the importance of purposefully conducting identity exploration within HE and in the context of caring for the curriculum, and the collective.
In a time of supercomplexity, leaders could be forgiven for spending little time engaged in identity work, rather their time is invested in institutional matters. This study has shown however, that time, especially when underpinned by CPAE methodology provides rich collegial safe spaces for leaders to learn from their mistakes and to grow. In doing so, we can help others grow and build capacity for individuals and the collective.
Grant, A. (2024). The philosophical autoethnographer. In A. Grant (2024). Writing Philosophical Autoethnography. Taylor and Francis
Krause, K. L. (2023). Learner-centred leadership in higher education: A practical guide. Routledge.
Collaborative philosophical autoethnography (CPAE) is being self and collectively reflexive and critically reflective about assumptions and employing new concepts if the current ones have failed (Grant, 2024). A recent review found no studies exploring how CPAE is used in the identity work of learning leaders in HE. This study set out to address this under theorised area and as a result better help the author participant researchers and others understand how they could lead by learning from their mistakes.
This study employed a CPAE methodology and a three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework. Our specific research questions were:
What happens when you set out to lead a caring curriculum program design with a premise of a shared vision?
What are the macro, meso, and micro factors at play?
The participant researchers attended monthly storytelling sessions aimed to elicit various aspects of their experiences. These were analysed closely, read and re-read and when data saturation reached, the quotes best representing the themes were mutually arrived at.
The data revealed their growth, satisfaction, and tensions resulting from experiences and practices of program review. It also identified the organisational factors (macro, meso, and micro) that influence program design processes and outcomes including leadership approaches; the nature of communication and work and decision making. It also highlights the importance of purposefully conducting identity exploration within HE and in the context of caring for the curriculum, and the collective.
In a time of supercomplexity, leaders could be forgiven for spending little time engaged in identity work, rather their time is invested in institutional matters. This study has shown however, that time, especially when underpinned by CPAE methodology provides rich collegial safe spaces for leaders to learn from their mistakes and to grow. In doing so, we can help others grow and build capacity for individuals and the collective.
Grant, A. (2024). The philosophical autoethnographer. In A. Grant (2024). Writing Philosophical Autoethnography. Taylor and Francis
Krause, K. L. (2023). Learner-centred leadership in higher education: A practical guide. Routledge.