Introduction
While research prowess often dominates university rankings and reputation, the quality of teaching is fundamental to the student learning experience. How universities in the UK and US approach teaching, evaluate excellence, train their faculty, and structure academic roles reveals important differences in priorities and pedagogical cultures. While both systems value good teaching, the relative emphasis compared to research, the methods used to assess it, and the support provided for pedagogical development can vary significantly. This article delves deeper into the comparison of teaching excellence and faculty roles within UK and US higher education.
Faculty Roles and Responsibilities
United Kingdom:
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Academic Pathway: Traditional roles include Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, and Professor. Progression often depends on a combination of research output (crucial for promotion, especially Reader/Professor), teaching quality, and administrative/leadership contributions.
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Teaching Load: Teaching responsibilities typically include delivering lectures, leading tutorials/seminars, supervising projects/dissertations, and marking assessments. The specific load varies by institution type (research-intensive vs. teaching-focused) and department.
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Teaching Focus: While research is highly valued (especially due to REF), there’s a growing formal emphasis on teaching quality, driven by the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and student satisfaction metrics (NSS).
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Teaching-Only Contracts: Increasingly common, particularly for early-career academics or those focusing on specific pedagogical roles, though sometimes perceived as having lower status or less security than research-active roles.
United States:
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Tenure Track: The dominant model at many universities involves Assistant Professor (probationary), Associate Professor (usually with tenure), and Full Professor. Achieving tenure (long-term job security) is a rigorous process heavily weighted towards research productivity (grants, publications) at research universities (R1s). Teaching effectiveness and service are also required but often carry less weight than research in tenure decisions at R1s.
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Teaching Load: Varies dramatically. Faculty at R1 universities typically have lower teaching loads (e.g., 2-2 or 2-1 courses per semester) to allow for research, while faculty at liberal arts colleges or regional universities often have higher teaching loads (e.g., 3-3 or 4-4) with a greater emphasis on teaching in promotion criteria.
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Non-Tenure Track Faculty: A significant and growing proportion of teaching (especially introductory courses) is conducted by non-tenure-track faculty, including lecturers, instructors, clinical faculty, and adjuncts (part-time), often with less job security, lower pay, and fewer benefits.
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Teaching Assistants (TAs): Graduate students play a major role in undergraduate teaching, leading discussion sections, grading, and lab sessions, particularly in large courses. Their training and supervision vary.
Evaluating Teaching Excellence
United Kingdom:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF): A national exercise that assesses teaching quality at the institutional level, resulting in Gold, Silver, or Bronze ratings. It uses metrics related to student satisfaction (NSS), retention rates, and graduate employment, supplemented by provider submissions. It aims to incentivize universities to prioritize teaching alongside research.
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National Student Survey (NSS): An annual survey of final-year undergraduate students asking about various aspects of their course experience, including teaching quality, assessment and feedback, and academic support. Results influence TEF ratings and internal quality assurance.
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Peer Observation: Formal or informal observation of teaching by colleagues is often used for developmental feedback and sometimes promotion evidence.
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Student Module Feedback: Internal questionnaires collect student feedback on specific modules and lecturers.
United States:
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Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs): Ubiquitous end-of-course surveys where students rate the instructor and course. These are heavily relied upon for annual reviews, promotion, and tenure decisions, despite significant criticism regarding potential biases (gender, race, grading leniency) and their limited validity as measures of actual learning.
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Peer Observation/Review: Used in some departments, but often less formalized or systematically weighted compared to SETs or research metrics in tenure decisions at R1s. More emphasis may be placed at teaching-focused institutions.
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Teaching Portfolios: Faculty may compile portfolios documenting teaching philosophy, course materials, assessment strategies, and evidence of effectiveness for promotion/tenure review.
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Lack of National Framework: There is no direct equivalent to the UK’s TEF for systematically evaluating teaching quality across institutions at a national level. Reputation for teaching is often based on surveys (like US News & World Report’s peer assessments), alumni giving, or focus at specific institution types (liberal arts colleges).
Training and Pedagogical Development
United Kingdom:
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Advance HE (Higher Education Academy): Offers professional recognition for teaching through fellowships (AFHEA, FHEA, SFHEA, PFHEA) based on the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF). Many universities require or encourage new lecturers to obtain fellowship, often through accredited in-house training programs (e.g., PGCertHE – Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education).
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University Teaching Centres: Most universities have centres dedicated to supporting teaching and learning, offering workshops, consultations, and resources on pedagogical innovation.
United States:
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Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs): Similar to the UK, most universities have CTLs offering workshops, grants for pedagogical innovation, consultations, and support for using educational technology.
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Limited Formal Training Requirement: Unlike the growing expectation for formal qualifications (like PGCertHE/HEA Fellowship) in the UK, there is generally no mandatory pedagogical training requirement for tenure-track faculty hires in the US (PhD focuses on research). Training for Teaching Assistants is common but variable in quality.
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Discipline-Specific Societies: Academic societies often have education-focused divisions or journals that promote pedagogical research and best practices within specific fields.
Conclusion
While both UK and US universities contain excellent teachers, the systems differ in how teaching is formally valued, evaluated, and developed. The UK has implemented national frameworks (TEF, NSS, UKPSF/Advance HE) to raise the profile and standardization of teaching quality assessment and professional development, creating explicit incentives alongside research pressures. The US system, particularly at research-intensive universities, often maintains a stronger structural emphasis on research productivity for career advancement (tenure), relying heavily on student evaluations (SETs) for teaching assessment, despite their known limitations. The role of graduate TAs is more prominent in US undergraduate teaching, and the prevalence of non-tenure-track faculty raises questions about teaching conditions and support. Understanding these differences in faculty roles, evaluation methods, and training helps illuminate the varying institutional priorities and cultures surrounding the art of teaching across the Atlantic.