Educational Leadership for Academic Development: Practices and Reflections at University of Trento

Research indicates that effective and transformative academic development requires establishing structures fostering organisational change and continuous improvement. Institutional cultures can either support or hinder teaching quality and innovation. Commonly, there is a noticeable disinterest in discussions about teaching, with innovations being isolated efforts amidst a broader resistance to change, thereby impeding the promotion and sustenance of innovative teaching practices. This case study emphasises the role of institutional leaders, including department heads and delegates responsible for teaching and learning, as pivotal to the success of academic staff development and teaching quality processes. The centrality of middle-management figures underscores the growing need to develop educational leadership skills to promote effective actions that engage academics. The sustainability of academic development projects is influenced by how department heads collaborate with university teachers in relation to local educational cultures, peer engagement, and legitimacy. The journey to becoming an educational leader entails change and awareness, requiring new tools and perspectives. Notably, the distinction between leaders’ formal authority and informal leadership, earned through engaging colleagues, presents a significant contemporary challenge. This case study details an initiative in educational leadership targeted at departmental delegates overseeing teaching and learning at the University of Trento, Italy. The paper presents the programme established in our institution to develop educational leaders, highlighting its main elements: detailed needs analysis, creation of a community, sharing of best practices, discussion of the most difficult challenges, brainstorming solutions, reflective teams, and mentoring programs.