Rewarding quality teaching in higher education: the evading dream?

Abstract

Teaching, and specifically quality teaching, has for many centuries been the defining characteristic of the academic profession. However, since the dawning of the 20th century, it seems that the very basis of the global higher education institutional reward system is the belief that working with, contributing to, and pursuing knowledge (ie research) is in fact superior to teaching. The article discloses some findings, based upon a global e-mail survey, involving more than 20 higher education institutions, practices that are being implemented in order to reward quality teaching. The survey indicated that there is in fact a disequilibrium between teaching and research, with the "weight" favourably tilted towards the latter. But, it seems as if the rewarding/recognition of quality teaching is slowly but surely catching on. Higher education institutions are increasingly implementing formal reward systems, which makes quality teaching much more than purely an evading dream.


South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.16(2) 2002: 32-40