Conversations as a source of professional learning: exploring the dynamics of camaraderie and common ground amongst university teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Talking about teaching with colleagues is one way that academics learn about university teaching. In contexts that offer inconsistent support for teaching, what influences conversations? This study investigated mid-career academics’ conversations at an Australian research-intensive university. Twenty-four academics were interviewed and the transcripts analysed using the constant comparative method. Conversations were influenced by common ground between colleagues – which is likely due to endeavouring to learn about teaching within contexts perceived as adverse. This article reports on an analysis of ‘context’ to identify the dynamic interaction between; lack of support for teaching; camaraderie, proximity, and similarity, and conversations.