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Patricia A. Lawler & Kathleen P. King. Malabar, FL: Krieger, 2000, 161 pages.
Reviewed by: Carolin Kreber
University of Alberta
Carolin Kreber is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. She received her doctorate in higher education from the University of Toronto in 1997, her MEd in adult education and curriculum from Brock University, and her BA/BEd from the Paedagogische Hochschule Freiburg in Germany. Her research interests focus on faculty, student, and curriculum issues in the context of postsecondary education and the role of universities and colleges in lifelong learning.
The primary audience for this text, the authors argue, are "faculty development practitioners and other professional adult educators who are responsible for developing and presenting faculty development initiatives" (p. x). They go on to suggest that the book "can also serve as a text for graduate education courses in faculty, staff, or professional development" (p. xi). Although inexperienced faculty developers in particular may indeed find the text useful, I am less certain that it makes a good text for a graduate course. My reasons become clear below.
On p. 91 the authors summarize clearly what they believe is their greatest contribution: "The goal of this book is to enhance the effectiveness of faculty development through thoughtful and systematic planning based on the theories of adult learning." Although this is indeed a valuable idea, it is perhaps not quite as innovative as the authors suggest. As early as 1983 Geis and Smith explored what it might mean for the practice of faculty development "if Professors are Adult Learners," and over the past few decades many scholars have built on this point (Brookfield, 1995; Cranton, 1994, 1996; Saroyan & Amundsen, 1997). The six adult learning principles that according to the authors should inform faculty development practice are: being aware of and drawing on faculty's experiences; creating a climate of respect; focusing on the application of learning; using collaborative inquiry; encouraging active participation; and empowering the faculty. In Chapter 2 they introduce a model called the "Adult learning model for faculty development," which brings together the two ideas of adult learning and program planning. The model consists of four stages: a preplanning stage, a planning stage, a delivery stage, and a follow-up stage. Some...