Identity transformation in a cross-departmental teaching community: experiences of academics at a research-intensive university in China

Literatures acknowledge that cross-departmental teaching communities are invaluable in providing academics with space to share knowledge, build capacity, and nurture collegial academic identity that values teaching. There is a paucity of research on how academics engage with these communities in Chinese universities, and how they experience identity transformation in the process. Using the social learning theory of Community of Practice, this study explores how academics developed their identities in a cross-departmental teaching community at a Chinese research-intensive university which is undergoing a national general education reform. This study reveals that academics experienced identity tensions and different trajectories of identity transformation when they sought to reconcile their memberships of departmental and cross-departmental teaching communities. Seniority, contract type, and supportiveness of the work environment are important factors that influenced these academics’ experiences. The study proposes that building a supportive work environment at departmental and cross-departmental levels, and refining promotion and reward policies to increase recognition of teaching, can nurture academic identity that values teaching. The findings offer important insights for universities in China and internationally on building cross-departmental teaching communities to support academics’ teaching development.