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Thriving in Academe

The Meta-Profession of Teaching

College teaching is not simply an extension of scholarship.
By Michael Theall, Youngstown State University and
Raoul A. Arreola, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

A meta-profession requires expertise in a wide variety of complex professional skills beyond that of content expertise.

The past 15 years have seen many efforts to define the professoriate. Ernest Boyer’s redefinition of scholarship, the AAHE Forum on Faculty Roles and Rewards led by Gene Rice, and Diamond and Adam’s two books about disciplinary perspectives on faculty work have provided a conceptual basis and real-world data for our thinking about what it means to be a college professor.

But to fully understand the work that the profession demands, we must explore the skills that the work requires. Until we identify the generic and specific skills necessary to succeed in the four basic professorial roles—teaching, scholarly and creative activities, service, and administration—we cannot effectively evaluate faculty work or offer meaningful support for those who do this work.

In an era when outside forces threaten the status of the professoriate, it is critical to demonstrate that being a college professor involves much more than presenting one’s expertise in a classroom for a few hours a week.

The meta-professional skills of college teaching include: designing, constructing, and operating a complex environment that facilitates and supports student learning; working with and leading others; mastering complex technologies; and representing one’s work and institution to a variety of academic colleagues and to the public.

Meet the Authors
Michael Theall is professor of education and director of CATALYST (Center for the Advancement of Teaching And Learning at Youngstown State University). Raoul Arreola is professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Together, they have over 70 years of experience in higher education and faculty evaluation and development. They have consulted to numerous institutions in the United States and abroad. Both authors have received the W. J. McKeachie Career Achievement Award from the Special Interest Group in Faculty Teaching, Evaluation, and Development of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In 2005 they were jointly awarded the AERA “Relating Research to Practice: Integrative Scholarship Award” for their collaborative development of the Meta-Profession Project.

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