From Perception to Practice - A Qualitative Exploration into Institutional Teaching Culture

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Teaching culture emerges from the dynamic interaction of embedded patterns, behaviors, values, beliefs, and ideologies across a university’s many microcultures. Canadian educational researchers created the Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Surveys (ITCPS) to examine how institutions value teaching at specific points in time, using open-ended responses and focus groups from staff, faculty, and students. Results align with six ITCPS levers, identifying barriers and pathways and emphasizing priorities, assessment approaches, effective pedagogy, supportive infrastructure, engagement opportunities, and public recognition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

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Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Surveys (ITCPS)

Purpose and research approach

Six levers shaping a strong teaching culture

Lever 1: Institutional strategic documents and initiatives

Teaching value in identity and shared culture

Lever 2: Assessment of teaching

Constructive and flexible evaluation

From Perception to Practice: A Qualitative Exploration into Institutional Teaching Culture Lindsay Shaw, Kristin Brown, Donna Ellis, Peter Wolf, Debra Dawson, Lori Goff, Erika Kustra Teaching culture is the product of a dynamic interplay among the embeddedpatterns, behaviours, values, beliefs and ideologies about teaching and learning within and across the many microcultures that make up a university. Educational researchers from across Canada developed a set of Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Surveys (ITCPS) to gain insight to an institution’s teaching culture at a particularpoint in time. Staff, faculty, and studentsfrom two institutions provided comments through an open-ended survey andfocus groups, answering the question “What would indicate to you that teaching matters at your institution?” Aligning with the six ITCPS levers, the results identified both barriers and pathways to a strong institutional teaching culture, highlighting strategic priorities, assessment methods, effective pedagogy, supportive infrastructure, engagement opportunities and public recognition. La culture d’enseignement est le fruit d’une interaction dynamique entre les habitudes, les comportements, les valeurs, les croyances et les idéologiesportant sur l’enseignement et sur l’apprentissage à travers les multiples microcultures qui composent une université. Des chercheurs en éducation de partout au Canada ont mis au point un sondage – appelé ITCPS – sur la perception de la culture d’enseignement afin de mieux comprendre une telle culture dans un établissement donné à un momentprécis. Des employés, des enseignants et des étudiants provenant de deux établissements ont formulé des commentaires dans un sondage à questions ouvertes et dans des groupes de discussion. Ils ont répondu à la question suivante : «Qu’est-ce qui vous ferait penser que l’on accorde une valeur à l’enseignement dans votre établissement? » En adéquation avec les six mécanismes du sondage ITCPS, les résultats ont mis en évidence les obstacles et les voies à suivre pour atteindre à une cultured’enseignement forte en établissement, en soulignant les priorités stratégiques, les méthodes d’évaluation, lapédagogie efficace, l’infrastructure de soutien, les possibilités de participation et la reconnaissance publique. Institutions have their own complex and unique culture around teaching which consists of embedded patterns, behaviours, shared values, beliefs, ideologies (Cox et al., 2011; Kustra et al., 2014), and micro-cultures that exist within and between departments and faculties, students and staff (Mårtensson & Roxå, 2016) . Institutional culture is continuously evolving in response to new generations, subject areas and pedagogical innovations. With these continual shifts, teaching culture has been difficult to assess. Yet its assessment is important because the extent to which an institution values teaching can impact critical outcomes such as student learning (Cox et al., 2011), engagement (Grayson & Grayson, 2003) and retention (Berger & Braxton, 1998) as well as faculty motivation and behaviour (Feldman & Paulsen, 1999) . Similarly, a positive organizational culture can increase job satisfaction and commitment (Lok & Crawford, 2004), ultimately leading to happier and more engaged employees, higher retention rates of these employees, and a more financially productive workforce (Harter, Schmidt & Keyes, 2003) . Eleven educational researchers from nine Canadian institutions have developed a set of three Institutional Teaching Culture Perception (ITCP) surveys, which capture a snapshot of an institution’s teaching culture at a particular point in time from the perspectives of educational staff, faculty and students. Based on the framework of Hénard & Roseveare (2012), the research team determined that there are six overarching levers that are important fora strong institutional teaching culture. On the survey, these levers are made up of several items known

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Surveys (ITCPS)?

ITCPS were developed to provide insight into an institution’s teaching culture at a particular point in time, from the perspectives of educational staff, faculty, and students.

How are results from ITCPS organized to describe teaching culture?

Results are aligned with six ITCPS levers, each made up of indicators that reveal whether key levers are present or missing and what progress is needed.

What kinds of outcomes does valuing teaching influence according to the text?

The text links institutional teaching value to student learning, engagement, retention, faculty motivation and behavior, and it also notes broader organizational effects such as job satisfaction and commitment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore