Training and Development of Instructor-Leadership

Researchers have long recognized that instructors use leadership behaviours in higher education teaching. This body of research, often called instructor-leadership, is gaining momentum with a shift from examining antecedents and consequences of instructor-leadership towards a deeper investigation of mediators and moderators. In spite of the field’s growth, the practical recommendations stemming from empirical investigations of instructor-leadership remain largely underdeveloped. Even the most popular practical implication – the training and development of instructor-leadership – is given fleeting attention, often skimmed over towards the end of a paper or study. In light of this, the present paper aims to provide detailed guidelines on the training and development of instructor-leadership by drawing from both the instructor-leadership and training and development literatures. In so doing, the paper highlights the main challenges of training and developing instructor-leadership, and draws reference to the instructional systems design approach to provide guidelines according to assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation.