Conceptions of peer review of teaching: a phenomenographic study

Peer review of teaching (PRoT) in higher education serves both summative (performance management, award, and promotion applications), and formative purposes (collegial feedback and developing teaching practice). This phenomenographic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with academic and professional staff identifies four qualitatively different conceptions of PRoT: judgement, feedback, reflection, and co-construction. We make explicit what PRoT means or refers to in each category and its component parts and context, exploring five features of impetus, peer relationship, focus of review, communication of results, and intended outcomes. With all participants expressing a preference for informal approaches to PRoT, we discuss tensions around academic development, collegiality, quality of feedback, and implementation of pedagogical insights. We conclude with recommendations for academic development practice and research in peer review of teaching.