Critical reflections on an academic literacies policy five years on

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Research and Development in Higher Education Vol. 29: Critical Visions Thinking, learning and researching in higher education

July, 2006, 392 pages
Published by
Alison Bunker and Iris Vardi
ISBN
0 908557 69 8
Abstract 

As a result of changing student demographics many universities have now formulated a policy on developing academic literacy skills in their increasingly multicultural and linguistically diverse students. Policy can determine curriculum design so that specific skills are integrated into the learning outcomes and assessment criteria and explicitly taught in all programmes. This paper reflects critically on an academic literacies policy at the Auckland University of Technology in NZ from the viewpoint of staff development. With the introduction of the policy in 2001 there was extensive staff development in the form of public lectures, workshops, consultancies and provision of resources. The latter extended to new staff at orientation, new EAL (English as an additional language ) staff and curriculum designers of new programmes. The paper explores the many roles required of an academic developer entrusted with policy action and implementation. It discusses the framework provided to support curriculum designers in their integration of academic literacies into the curriculum and examines the professional development implications in such a recommendation. It draws on this experience to discuss the need for academic developers to find an appropriate interdisciplinary language and forms of dialogue to communicate with colleagues in the increasingly diverse membership of the academy.

Keywords: academic literacies, academic development, discipline discourse