Changing me, Changing others

Reflective practice in the context of the ASTHE programme also afforded me the luxury of looking back not only at my teaching, but also on my thus far unstated philosophy of teaching and eventually my fundamental values and underlying worldview. It is with this very core personal value system, that I start the journey of my portfolio and travel through my philosophy of teaching, my teaching and learning practice, my more recent administrative role, my research experience and my efforts in fostering continuing professional development and towards ensuring a sustained commitment to continuous improvement at the institutional level.

While several of the lessons learnt by applying the principles of reflective practice were for problems faced personally by me, several overflowed into areas common to other academics, and more importantly, to areas which needed to be strengthened at the institutional level.

This last aspect was particularly pertinent for me as I had assumed duties as the Director of the School of Computing (UCSC) in 2004, and so was in a privileged position to see through some of the reforms being put to practice. The School’s own move from teaching to learning with the introduction of e-Learning in blended form with internal undergraduates and in online mode with external degree students contributed to, and benefited by my involvement in the ASTHE programme.

More than one year after the coursework component of the ASTHE programme, I am pleased that my commitment to continuous improvement in teaching and learning has not waned. On the contrary, thanks primarily to several juniors from the UCSC who have helped keep the momentum going, we have collectively been able to subvert the dominant culture of resisting change by inculcating pockets of good practice and thereby influencing the way we think and plan academic activities at the School.