‘True’ Collaboration? Navigating Collective Leadership, Co-creation, and Professional Development of Staff in an Undergraduate Team-taught Honours Course

‘True’ collaboration amongst colleagues on team-taught courses involves careful consideration of collective leadership and working within the boundaries of hierarchical responsibility at varying levels of professional development. In recent years, team-teaching has been implemented as a mechanism for managing increased student numbers, adapting to larger classes and diversity in international student cohort teaching (Minett-Smith and Davis, 2019). In effect, team-teaching has often been regarded as a reactive rather than proactive choice in approaches to learning and teaching. The dominant form of team-teaching follows a hierarchical model. Co-convenors – when implemented - often fulfil a supportive role to the lead convenor, and consequently face limited opportunities to demonstrate clear leadership in the decision-making process. This case study reflects upon a pedagogical approach to collaborative team-teaching within an honours course in the School of Social and Political Sciences. This approach intentionally facilitated a meaningful, research-led, and developmental partnership between 3 colleagues at different levels of seniority. This approach was strategically aligned to enhance teaching practice, embody collective leadership, and support the professional development of junior colleagues. ‘True’ collaboration within this team-taught teaching model required navigating several structural and administrative obstacles (that include having one named course convenor as the final decision maker) and perceptions of expertise, experience, and seniority. This case study presents the benefits and challenges of navigating collective leadership and collaboration through four key stages; the initial justification for team-teaching, the impact on course planning, the practicalities of team teaching, and the enhancement of professional and skills development that resulted from this collaboration.