Action Leadership Development in Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter focuses on PALAR applications in higher education (HE), turning first to professional development (PD) – improving learning, teaching and academic staff development – and then to action leadership development (ALD). Practical improvements in HE have been slow due to the low priority that universities give to pre- and in-service training and professional development of university teachers. This chapter therefore explains the need for positive change and how to achieve it. The arguments in this chapter are informed by the theoretical framework presented in the previous chapters of Part I. The section on PD focuses on the relevance to higher education of Leontiev’s theory of action and of one of my PD models of action research (CRASP). Examples illustrate how principles of learning – by both students and academic staff – can be interpreted using Leontiev’s theoretical framework, the CRASP model and other theories. The resulting dynamic model of HE may be applied, adapted or extended by readers according to their own purposes. The section on ALD focuses on the main principles of action leadership, characteristics of a respected action leader and three levels of leadership in higher education.