Abstracts - Earli

Academic developers across Europe: what’s in a name? A comparative analysisRoberto Di Napoli, Imperial College London, United KingdomHeather Fry, Imperial College London, United KingdomMarta Fernandez-Villanueva, University of Barcelona, SpainBegona Gros, University of Barcelona, SpainJohannes Wildt, Dortmund Universität, GermanyPiet Verhesschen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BelgiumVeerle Hulpiau, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BelgiumAn Verburgh, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BelgiumMariane Frenay, Universite catholique de Louvain, BelgiumPaper 4 will present the findings of a two-year, joint research project conducted in five Europeanuniversities. The project arose from interest in investigating the identities and roles, in differentparts of Europe, of those called, in a generically used term, educational developers. At a time ofchange in higher education systems in the European space and the resulting emphasis on teaching,educational developers have become important actors in the life of universities. However, theirpresence and position within university life is often complex and contested. Universities have beenruled traditionally by the unspoken notion of ‘academic freedom’ and been resistant to activitiesthat might impair this notion. Universities have been considered primarily as centres of scholarshipand research. Educational developers have consequently found themselves in the challengingposition of both upholding teaching and mediating between institutional forces in favour of changeand traditional ones that have frequently left teaching unscrutinised. We asked ourselves ‘who isan educational developer, and why, and how do educational developers regard themselves, theirrole and development, and how might these considerations illuminate our understanding ofeducational development?’. Such questions are starting to be asked within nations but not acrossnational boundaries. Our project offered the opportunity to become familiar with differentinstitutional contexts of educational developers and the impact these have on the professionalidentity of educational developers and their role within their own institution. Our transnational,interview-based research sought to unpick this sense of challenge and estrangement that has oftenled educational developers to ask themselves questions of a professional nature but also of anontological one. A general introduction to the project will be followed by the presentation of theresults in the participating institutions.– 526 –