A longitudinal ethnographic investigation into how mid-career academics at an Australian regional university develop as educators

This ethnographic study investigated 9 mid-career academics at an Australian regional university over an 18-month period. The academics, all committed to teaching, were interviewed multiple times with additional information collected about the work environment. Results show their development relied most heavily on experiential learning supplemented with some formal learning. Combining Snyder’s Hope Theory (1994, 2002) with Bereiter and Scardamalia’s Expertise Theory (1993), three groups of academics were identified: the Hopeful Group, the Constrained Group, and the Strategic Group, with higher hope linked with undertaking more ambitious progressive problem solving. The findings suggest potential changes institutions could make to the work environment, based on a narrative of growth, to encourage and support more participation in progressive problem solving.