Effectiveness and ethics in educational development: Changing contexts, changing notions

Throughout the English‐speaking world, governments and, through them, employers are increasingly influencing the goals of undergraduate education. It is argued that this trend towards state‐mandated goals entails a redefinition of the nature of effective teaching in higher education which, in turn, makes it necessary to reconceptualize the nature of effective educational development. However, there is the danger that where educational developers advance this new academic agenda they will become complicit in actions that are to the detriment of faculty members. In other words, mandated higher education goals pose ethical problems for educational development professionals. Six areas of concern are reviewed, leading to the suggestion that national educational development associations might consider advising their members on such issues.