Van Schalkwyk and coworkers have identified three important structures that can act either as enablers for academic teachers in their development or as barriers to development.

1. Communities of practice
A community of practice (CoP) is "a group of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly." A CoP creates opportunities to build shared meaning and develop practice in a collaborative way.

2. Enabling environment
In an enabling environment (EE), taking a scholarly approach to teaching and learning is valued by both peers and those in power. In an EE, conversations, reflections, and ideas about teaching and learning are taken seriously and are seen as important contributions to the broader project of academic teaching and learning.

3. Regard and reward
The regard and reward (R&R) given to academic teaching sends an important signal about the place academic teaching has in academic work more broadly. R&R will ideally be found at all levels, from leadership to fellow academic teachers and even students.

This reflection task involves three steps.

Step 1: reflect and write
Think about your own situation today. For each of these three structures, write a few sentences that answer the following questions:

1. How does this structure enable me today? Which people play a role in this?

2. Who do I know that could help me strengthen this enabling structure?

3. How does this structure inhibit me today? Which people play a role in this?

4. Who do I know that could help me begin to overcome this barrier, or reduce the importance of this barrier for my development?

Step 2: review and organize
Review your answers and prioritize them as follows:

1. The most positive enabler I currently experience and the key person or people associated with it.

2. a) The easiest barrier to overcome and the key person or people who could help me do it, and/or b) the least impactful barrier to my development and the key person or people who can help me remember this.

For each, identify one action you can take this month that will strengthen the positive effect of the enabler and another action that could lower the barrier or allow you to work around it. If you can't think of a specific action on your own, think of a question you could ask the person you've identified above.

Step 3: share and discuss
Share your reflection with some of the key people you have identified above. You may choose to just talk with one trusted colleague, or you could gather a group. Work with what feels manageable for you where you are right now.

This is an exercise you can do a regular intervals to review the current state of your support structures, the opportunities you have to strengthen them, and the possibilities you can see for overcoming and/or (temporarily) disregarding barriers to your development.

Completing this exercise will help you identify your collegial network: the people around you who can act as resources for your development. It will also help you begin to prioritize the efforts you make in your development as an academic teacher.

van Schalkwyk, S., Cilliers, F., Adendorff, H., Cattell, K., and Herman, N. (2013). Journeys of growth towards the professional learning of academics: Understanding the role of educational development. International Journal for Academic Development, 18(2), 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2012.673490