The accreditation of university teachers: an optometric viewpoint

The issue of whether university teachers should be required to gain a formal teaching qualification is currently under debate. In the United Kingdom, the development of an accreditation system for university teachers is well advanced. In the future, Australian university teachers may be required to either: 1. prove their teaching competency 2. undertake teaching courses as part of their induction program. Of the current full-time academic staff of the optometry schools in Australia and New Zealand, about 15 per cent have undertaken university courses on higher education teaching: two of 10, one of 12, one of six and one of six for the optometry schools at the Queensland University of Technology, The University of New South Wales, The University of Melbourne and The University of Auckland, respectively. In terms of undergraduate optometry students' views, of those who responded (43 per cent of QUT third and fourth year students) to a survey on a range of teaching and learning issues, 20 out of 26 thought that a teaching qualification should be a requirement, while only six thought that it was not necessary. It has been suggested that an accredited training system is one way of ensuring that university teachers have the skills to deal with a dynamic teaching environment and the challenges of the future. The quality of teaching in universities has particular relevance to the optometric profession both in terms of undergraduate students and postgraduate experiences.