Trust is an under-researched topic in higher education (Tierney, 2006; Hagenaur & Volet, 2014) even though we know it is essential for effective learning and teaching relationships (Beltrano et al., 2021; Carless, 2012; Felten & Lambert, 2020; Pedersen et al., 2022). Some recent research on trust in higher education has been published with Gibbs (2018), for example, exploring the role of trust in the university more widely. In academic development, a special issue of IJAD on significant conversations drew out many articles that noted the centrality of trust for such conversations and relationships (e.g., Cook-Sather et al., 2021; Iqbal & Vigna, 2021; Simon & Pleschová, 2021), while other researchers have considered trustworthiness as a key component of academic developers’ credibility (Little & Green, 2022). Yet, definitions and conceptualisations of trust in academic development remain scarce, and empirical research even more rare. There is scope for more research on the role of academic development and academic developers in identifying, building, and maintaining trust in different higher education contexts and among different higher education practitioners and learners.
In this issue, we seek to explore some of the following questions, among others that authors might propose:
- What do we mean by trust in relation to academic development?
- How do culture and context shape definitions and practices of trust in academic development?
- How do academic developers build trust in their work with academics?
- How do academic developers contribute to pedagogies and course designs that foster trust in teacher-student and student-student interactions?
- Is there a role for academic developers in facilitating trust between teachers and their institutions? If so, how might academic developers contribute towards this trust-building process, and how might it influence their relationship with the institution?
- How might/do academic developers help teachers cultivate trust with students when engaging with questions of academic integrity or disinformation?
- What is the importance of trust in academic development in the context of supporting inclusive teaching?
- When and why might it be appropriate for academic developers to cultivate mistrust? For example, should academic developers encourage critical mistrust in inequitable systems?
- What kinds of academic development might serve to build trust in a world where artificial intelligence is becoming more prominent?
We welcome submissions of papers that address the questions above, or that ask and/or answer other questions relating to trust in academic development. A variety of submissions are sought, and both qualitative and quantitative research is welcomed.
