UK PSYCHOLOGY ACADEMICS: THE NEXT GENERATION

As the numbers of students enrolling at UK universities increase, so to do the demands placed on postgraduate students to provide teaching support for undergraduates. Whilst such opportunities provide valuable work experience for postgraduates, there is considerable variability in the level of support that they receive for teaching from their departments and institutions. This has implications not only for the professional development needs for postgraduates but also for the quality of teaching that undergraduates receive. In addition, the generic training more widely available is not appropriate for all topics and is often considered undesirable for others. Discipline specific teaching support provided at a national level serves to address these issues and as well provides opportunities within the psychology community to: foster links across institutions, more fully engage practicing academics in the development of new of academics, develop teaching excellence in practicing academics as well as new academics, raise the profile of teaching across the UK, and provide leadership opportunities for postgraduates who teach. This paper will consider the experiences of UK psychology postgraduates related to their teaching and teaching support and describe the development of a community of practice around teaching for psychology postgraduates that aims to address the above issues.

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