Institutional strategies for developing postgraduate research students' teaching and communication capabilities

Today’s postgraduate research students will be tomorrow’s academics and the future leaders of higher education institutions as well as significant contributors to business and society. In Europe, doctorate-trained researchers are essential to “smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth,” while in Southern Africa, East Asia, and Latin America, research students are considered central to the development of “knowledge societies” (Jorgenson 2012). With rapidly changing conceptualizations of academic work, postgraduate research students should be acknowledged as emergent academics whose experiences during candidature will strongly influence their future paths. How should universities prepare research students effectively for academic roles, especially as future leaders of teaching? Well-developed teaching capabilities are vital for doctoral students who are already teaching or who anticipate an academic career. The communication and feedback skills central to good teaching are also invaluable in most other careers. This chapter outlines the core teaching roles in Australia’s universities that doctoral students are currently playing, and will play in the future, and argues that investment in teaching development for research students is a crucial factor in teaching quality. Next, the chapter explores diverse teaching development strategies that institutions can use, drawing on examples of good practice from Australia that are already showing excellent outcomes in fostering and developing high-quality teaching skills as part of an infrastructure of effective and comprehensive postgraduate education