Exploratory Pedagogic Inquiry: a cross-disciplinary approach to learning from teaching

In this article, we describe the development of an approach to continuing professional development (CPD) suitable for busy higher education professionals, which we term Exploratory Pedagogic Inquiry ('EPI'). We discuss the development, characteristics and outcomes of this approach on the basis of our shared experience as a group of educators with different roles and from diverse disciplinary backgrounds who are participants in a ‘teaching academy’ in a UK university. Sets of questions and tools to promote thinking were developed and implemented within a structured peer-coaching procedure combined with group meetings and guided individual reflections. We found that EPI enabled us to work together in a mutually supportive and productive way. The examples of EPI which we present in this article, together with thematic analysis of overall reflections, highlight reflective, practical, and affective gains, involving enhancement of well-being, productive collaborative working, and enactment of compassion in relation to the challenges we were facing. These benefits were supported by the cross-institutional membership of the group. By explaining and publicising the EPI approach, this article offers an illustration and resource for other higher education practitioners to explore as a means for addressing challenging issues and/or building on achievements in their own contexts. The guidance and questions developed for EPI are reproduced in a linked, freely downloadable booklet which could be utilised in other contexts.