Framework

Using the framework

The framework is aligned with promotional levels and is intended to be flexible and adaptable to the requirements of different institutions. It is intended for use by institutions, faculties and individual academics.

At an institution or faculty level, the framework can be used as a basis for the development of policy and practices recognising and promoting high quality teaching. For example, the framework can be used as a template for developing job descriptions, setting teaching criteria and standards across promotional levels, and to guide academic staff development and performance review policy.

For individuals, the framework can be used as a guide for demonstrating and providing evidence of quality teaching or to direct personal and professional development.

Guidelines for institutions

Universities may use the framework as a facilitative tool to clarify their expectations and set indicative standards for teaching criteria for performance review and promotion. In using their own criteria, policies and processes it may be helpful to consider the following:

• The Higher Education Professional Standards for the United Kingdom is referenced, along with the majority of Australian and New Zealand universities’ indicator and evidence requirements. The framework is representative of these.
• The criteria and indicators under each level of the framework are indicative and therefore can be contested and discussed within each university.

• Some indicators are highlighted in bold; these are indicatively set as minimum standards for each criterion. These serve as signal of minimum expectations for subsequent levels.
• We are suggesting that a minimum standard is set for all staff who teach regardless of appointment type (research and teaching, teaching focused and research focused) e.g. Level B. A university may wish to set Level C as the minimum standard.
• The indicators made bold have been highlighted for illustrative purposes to show that a university or faculty may require a particular standard, or that a particular source of evidence be provided. It may be that some universities would not require any single standard, or might set more required items. To identify standards or evidence in a particular university context would require a process of consultation within each university and perhaps within disciplines to determine the expectations relevant to that university/discipline. The university might set some standards as requirements across the university, and allow disciplines to set some additional ones to reflect their specific context.
• The layout is flexible and may be tailored to the requirements of individual institutions. The framework can be assembled in any desirable format. Please note that the framework  has been presented in its current format to demonstrate the progression of expectations of the various levels for the teaching component of academic work.