Pilot projects target doctoral students’ pedagogical competency

The projects were introduced in Lund University’s 2024 conference on teaching and learning (LUTL24), hosted by the Medical Faculty. The mentor teachers discussed the aims of the projects, and the eight doctoral students who participated during the pilot rounds presented their views on the importance of a pedagogical mentoring system for doctoral students. 

In the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, doctoral education contains one obligatory 3-credit course in university teaching. Doctoral students may also be offered opportunities to teach at their institution. These activities are, however, seldom based on carefully thought-through models that would address doctoral students’ needs at an individual level, and many doctoral students need to work out on their own how to translate theory – what they learn on the pedagogical course – into disciplinary practices. 

“The aim of our projects has been to create a model of pedagogical mentoring, where doctoral students are assigned both a thesis supervisor and a pedagogical mentor, when they enter the education”, say Satu Manninen, Lene Nordrum, 

Ellen Turner and Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros, who are the initiators and mentor teachers in the projects. 
“Pedagogical competence and varied teaching skills have become increasingly important for doctoral students. The mentor’s task is to guide doctoral students and help them plan for their pedagogical courses and teaching, so they develop a varied portfolio of teaching merits that makes them competitive in the academic job market”, the mentor teachers continue. 

One particularly strong merit is experience of Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis supervision. The mentoring model developed at the English Unit includes a term where doctoral students can practice supervision and examination, by co-supervising a degree project with an experienced supervisor in the subject. 

Eight doctoral students in English literature and English language and linguistics have participated in the pilot rounds of the projects. In the LUTL24 conference, Sophia Juul, Mari Komnæs, Freja Lauridsen, and Elena De Wachter presented their thoughts of the mentoring model in poster format. 

“Presenting the pedagogical mentorship programme to teachers from such diverse fields - ranging from medicine to philosophy - was inspiring”, says Sophia Juul. “It was fascinating to learn how teaching practices vary so widely across departments”, adds Freja Lauridsen. “We feel truly fortunate to have extensive teaching opportunities at the English Unit and even more lucky to have this pedagogical mentorship programme to guide us along the way”. 

The pedagogical mentorship programme, detailed on the two posters presented by Sophia Juul, Mari Komnæs, Freja Lauridsen, and Elena De Wachter, serves as a crucial bridge between pedagogical theory and classroom practice. Central to both the posters and the programme as a whole is the idea that this connection plays a key role in fostering the development of better university teachers.

Jorunn Joiner and John Öwre, who participated in the pilot round of the Bachelor’s degree co-supervision scheme alongside Elin Nylander and Eleni Tzimopoulou, presented their experiences in a separate poster. 

“Our poster centered around the timeline of the initial pilot project, onto which we added comments and thoughts from our experiences”, says Jorunn.

“We focused primarily on how we found the instruction and the phases of the pilot project, and what insights we gained about our own pedagogy, both for future thesis supervision and in a broader perspective”. John adds: “we wanted to highlight the practical side of our participation, and focused on the parts of the project that surprised us, either by being unexpectedly challenging or educational, or by giving valuable insights into our own potential biases and beginner’s mistakes”.

“Overall, this pilot project has been a very valuable experience, both as part of my continued pedagogical education and as an academic merit”, John says. “As we emphasized in our presentation, having doctoral students co-supervise degree projects offers advantages for all parties, and we believe that the case for elevating it to a standard part of institutional work is very strong. Speaking for myself, I would heartily recommend any PhD student to jump at this opportunity if it is offered”. Jorunn agrees and adds: “Making the poster together was a new opportunity to share and compare our pedagogical experiences, which nuanced my individual perspective. At the post presentation, questions from the audience situated the project within wider pedagogical discussions that are ongoing at Lund University, which helped us understand the relevance – and need – of this kind of project for doctoral education at the university”.

The pilot projects have received funding from the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology. The project members welcome a wider discussion of how doctoral students’ pedagogical education can be supported and funded in the future, so that all doctoral students have an opportunity to receive guidance in both research and their thesis project, as well as in their pedagogical skills and competencies.