Incorporating Theories of Teacher Growth and Adult Education in a Faculty Development Program

This paper describes a theory-based faculty development program and provides preliminary evidence as to its effectiveness in promoting change in thinking about teaching. The program design was based on Ramsden\u27s (1992) theory of teacher growth and Mezirow\u27s (1991) transformative theory in adult education. The program was offered as a three-credit course to graduate students and as a week-long (40 hours) workshop to faculty. Assessment included responses to pre- post- questions about participants\u27 views from teaching. Results indicate that both groups changed their focus from viewing teaching as transmitting knowledge to a more integrated and complex conception of teaching