Pedagogical competence profile
The University of Copenhagen's pedagogical competence profile is a framework for describing teaching skills. It can be used when teachers need to describe and reflect on their teaching and engagement with teaching and learning.
The framework’s six different areas cover competencies and activities that are key to developing both individual competencies and UCPH's study programmes. The competence profile areas also form the basis for the assessment and evaluation of teaching skills, particularly in relation to job applications. Find out more about each area below
This dimension refers to the teacher’s responsibilities – from teaching courses organised by others to independently planning long courses and cooperating with others in developing new courses or programmes.
This development involves that the teacher:
- Organises and teaches single classes
- Organises, teaches and evaluates series of classes
- Organises, teaches and evaluates whole courses
- Supervises students at different levels
- Contributes to developing the quality of the study programme
- Participates in faculty or inter-faculty programme development and/or quality assurance
Knowledge sharing and peer supervision can take place in many different ways and can have several different aims. One important aim is to develop as a teacher; another aim is to develop the quality of teaching in the department. Finally, the aim may be to contribute to knowledge sharing on a broader organisational, societal or international level.
The teacher can realise these aims by:
- Using feedback from others to improve their own teaching
- Taking active part in team teaching (planning, teaching and evaluating)
- Communicating and sharing knowledge with colleagues about teaching at programme level
- Providing pedagogical guidance and supervision to colleagues
- Taking part in dialogues on the societal function, challenges and developments of higher education
- Contributing to developing university pedagogy and subject didactics nationally and internationally
This area concerns the teacher’s knowledge of learning, teaching and subject didactics. This should be seen in the context of “Practice and reflection”, since this knowledge becomes relevant when it is put into practice. The following points are not listed in terms of priority, but are divided according to three key areas of knowledge: knowledge of the students, knowledge of the study programme and knowledge of university teaching.
In other words, knowledge of:
- Students' learning – both in general and in relation to the subject
- Students' academic and social well-being
- Students’ study and learning situation
- The programme’s design, structure and content
- The potential labour market for graduates of the programme and the practical uses of the subject
- The interaction between the academic disciplines of the programme and its relations to other programmes
- Different ways of strengthening the link between research and teaching
- Various forms of evaluation and teaching (including feedback, and online and blended learning)
- Topics within university pedagogy and subject didactics
This area concerns the teacher’s ability to establish and develop good teaching practices through conscious choices and continuous reflection on their own teaching. This is linked to “Knowledge of learning, teaching and the study programme”, since good teaching practice is qualified by knowledge.
The basics of good teaching practice are that the teacher:
- Focuses on the students’ learning outcomes – both in class and in the students’ work outside the room
- Contributes to creating an engaging and committing learning community
- Acknowledges the students by seeking to understand their learning needs, conditions and challenges
- Sets out clear learning goals and organise the teaching activities accordingly
- Gives the students feedback on their learning study practices
- Designs the exams to reflect the students’ work with the learning objectives
- Incorporates the study programme’s overall goals, structure and profile into the teaching and opens the subject to other academic perspectives
- Actively seeks to link research processes, values and results to activities in the classroom
- Analyses regularly own teaching, results achieved and students’ feedback in order to change practices
This area concerns the teacher’s formal pedagogical qualifications and their ongoing development through participation in and contribution to formal pedagogical in-service training activities.
Formal qualifications include:
- Completed introduction to the pedagogy of university teaching
- Completed the UCPH teaching and learning in higher education programme
- Completed course on PhD supervision
- Other completed courses on the pedagogy of university teaching and subject didactics
- Participation in and contributions to local workshops, courses and thematic days on university teaching and education
- Participation in national and international meetings and conferences focusing on the pedagogy of university teaching and learning
This dimension deals with the part of the university pedagogical qualification that takes place through participation in development projects. In development projects the teacher is involved in implementing pedagogical and subject didactic projects at subject or programme level. These projects will usually be practice-oriented and may, for example, involve introducing new teaching, counselling or evaluation methods.
The teacher may be involved in development projects through participation, initiation or management.