‘It takes a village’ : attaining teaching excellence in a challenging context

Abstract

The focus of this article is a teaching and learning activity system which is studied for the purpose of understanding and resolving contradictions in the system. For purposes of this study, the activity system was examined from the perspectives of university teachers and senior university managers. Data was obtained from interviews with university teachers who had expressed an interest in teaching and learning and who had demonstrated considerable ability in university teaching. Interviews were also conducted with senior managers responsible for teaching and learning at the institution. We applied the tools provided by Activity Theory (Engeström 1987; 2008) to analyse the data and propose recommendations for how university teaching might be better supported by university managers in contexts of considerable change and challenge. This required identifying and addressing areas of difficulty within and across the system for the purpose of enabling improved outcomes. In this article, areas of contradiction are analysed and constructive suggestions are made for using the identified areas of difficulty as sites for growth and development.