Dennis Fox suggests a way to understanding how you develop as an academic teacher, which mirrors the teachers different theories of student learning, but also, though the teaching roles consequently formed, closely connects to aspects of identity.

Fox, D. (1983) Personal theories of teaching, Studies in Higher Education, 8 (2), 151-163, DOI: 10.1080/03075078312331379014

Photo of Peter Kugel

Peter Kugel has used his informal observations over many years to describe one common path of development, from focusing on yourself as a teacher towards eventually focusing on the students and their learning.

Kugel, P. (1993) How Professors Develop as Teachers. Studies in Higher Education, 18 (3), 315-28, DOI:10.1080/03075079312331382241

Photo of Gerlese Åkerlind

Gerlese Åkerlind has studied academic teachers development extensively. In this particular study she investigates academics’ ways of understanding and their intentional attitudes towards their own growth and development as a teacher.

Åkerlind, G. S. (2007) Constraints on academic´s potential for developing as a teacher, Studies in Higher Education, 32 (1): 21-37, DOI: 10.1080/03075070601099416

Photo of Thea van Lankveld

Thea van Lankveld and her colleagues have looked on a large number of studies investigating teacher identity of university teachers. They suggest that developing a university teacher identity is a complex and ongoing process.

Open access

Lankveld, T. van et al. (2017) Developing a teacher identity in the university context: a systematic review of the literature, Higher Education Research & Development, 36 (2), 325-342, DOI:10.1080/07294360.2016.1208154