Teaching4Learning@Unipd: Promoting Faculty Development and Organizational Development and Change

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of implementing a faculty development program that fosters active learning with a focus on the role of the organizational culture in the change process. The context is the University of Padova which has been promoting a faculty development since 2016. This paper highlights how the university’s historical, institutional and national settings influence how teaching and learning is conceptualized and practiced. In response, implementing an innovative faculty development program requires a multi-prong approach, top down and bottom up, that involves inspiring the faculty, developing institutional buy-in, acquiring monetary investment, and promotion beyond the confines of the university.