scholarly journals Institutional Accreditation and the Professionalisation of Teaching in the HE Sector

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Spowart ◽  
Rebecca Turner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
Institutional Accreditation ◽  
League Tables ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Institutional accreditation is an integral part of moves to professionalise teaching and learning in higher education (HE). Despite this growing trend, there is a paucity of literature which examines the benefits and challenges of institutional accreditation. In this chapter we draw on survey data collected in 2020 from 55 HE institutions globally which are accredited by Advance HE to award Fellowships. These teaching Fellowships are aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning (UKPSF). Findings show that institutional accreditation supports the career development of teaching-focused academics and impacts on teaching and learning in a number of ways. These impacts include providing an external benchmark, raising the profile and quality of teaching and encouraging teaching-related professional development, including engagement with scholarship in teaching and learning. Accreditation was also found to align with neoliberal agendas of quality, league tables and marketization. The perennial issue of how to evaluate the impact on student learning is something respondents continue to grapple with. Finally, these data demonstrate there is a clear need to develop a more systematic and embedded approach to evaluation that captures the outcomes of teaching-related professional development.

scholarly journals Introduction: 5 years of ELEUK

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Amparo Lallana ◽  
Lourdes Hernández Martín ◽  
Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

We are delighted to be able to present to you this fifth anniversary volume which inaugurates a series of publications emanating from conferences organised by ELEUK, the Association for the Teaching of Spanish in Higher Education in the United Kingdom (www.eleuk.org). Nearly a decade ago, Spanish Language Teaching (SLT) was going from strength to strength across higher education; however, there were hardly any conferences or professional development events within the UK dedicated specifically to the teaching of Spanish. University colleagues and language professionals got together to launch a space from where to promote the teaching and learning of Spanish, foster research in SLT, provide opportunities for teacher development, facilitate collaboration among its members, and enhance subject expertise.

Equipping Educational Developers for Inclusive International Programs in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Davinia Sánchez-García ◽  
Emma Dafouz
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
International Programs ◽  
Teacher Professional

Given the internationalization process of higher education across the globe, continuing professional development (CPD) of academic staff is vital to ensure the quality of teaching and learning. Under such scenario, the European Erasmus+ project “Educational Quality at Universities for Inclusive International Programmes” (EQUiiP) identifies the role of the internationally-oriented educational developer (ED) as crucial to higher education institutions (HEIs) and provides these institutions with the means to support academic staff and hereby enhance the quality of internationalized programs taught in international classrooms. Consequently, this chapter provides the conceptual rationale behind the EQUiiP project, delves into the needs of teacher education programs and the role played by the EDs, and describes the EQUiiP project and its outcomes by providing concrete examples of its inclusive CPD program. Finally, some implications and recommendations for teacher professional development, with specific reference to the Spanish setting, are offered.

scholarly journals 8. Sessional Teaching Staff and Learning, Teaching, and Assessment: Engaging the Marginalised

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Sally Ann Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Professional Development Needs ◽  
Framework For Teaching ◽  
The Uk

This paper discusses the issues around the professional development needs of sessional teaching staff in the UK. The introduction of the UK professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education in 2006 raised the issue of engaging the wide range of staff, faculty, and learning support in professional development. Sessional teaching staff present a challenge when their main employment is outside of the institution.

scholarly journals Supporting Learning Programme Portfolio

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito Abbruzzese
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
The Uk

This Supporting Learning Programme Portfolio is part of a range of professional development opportunities for people involved in teaching and supporting learning and is accredited against the UK Professional Standards Framework for the Advance Higher Education.

scholarly journals Reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nottingham

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Cecilia Goria
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emergency Measures

It is widely believed that digitally-driven changes are not welcomed amongst academic staff in higher education. However, when in March 2020, the University of Nottingham went online in response to the UK government’s COVID-19 lockdown, a different picture started to emerge. This contribution reflects on the initial steps taken to respond to the COVID-19 emergency measures, including the support required to implement these steps and ensuing staff feedback. It also reflects on the process of moving forward from a state of emergency to a more thought-through digital pedagogical approach. In this scenario, the ultimate goal of this reflection is to argue that, as a consequence of the educational turbulence caused by COVID-19, the portrait of academics prone to resisting digitally-driven changes needs to be replaced by one that emphasises the significance of making the pedagogical values of these changes meaningful to the staff who eventually implement them.

scholarly journals Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice Editorial 8.3

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Geraldine E. Lefoe ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Welcome to the third and final issue of Volume 8 of the Journal of University Teaching and Learning (JUTLP) in 2011. As the year draws to a close we are seeing some striking changes to the higher education sector internationally. In England budget cuts have seen the closure of the twenty-four Higher Education Academy subject centres at the same time as the establishment of student fees. In Australia the cap has been lifted across the board on the number of students that can be enrolled in universities with the resultant projected increased student numbers. The focus in Australia is on social inclusion yet in England the concern for the introduction of fees is just the opposite, these will be the very students who may now be excluded. The changes in both countries see new measures of accountability and more complex regulations put in place. Will this cause people to rethink the way we teach and the way students learn? For the Higher Education Academy in the UK, new directions see the hosting of a summit on learning and teaching with a focus on flexible learning, an indicator of new directions for many institutions. In Australia, we see a renewed opportunity to investigate such changes through the opening of the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) and its role of recognising the importance of learning and teaching through grants and awards schemes. We hope in 2012 we’ll hear more from our authors about the impact of these transformations, as well as those changes occurring in other countries around the world, on teaching practice in our universities.

Integrating Technology in the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education in Namibia

2018 ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Katherine Carter ◽  
Michelle Maree ◽  
Geoffrey Shakwa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Interpretive Paradigm ◽  
Impact Of Technology

Few studies have examined the use and impact of technology in professional development programs in higher education. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the significance of technology as a tool for professional development in a postgraduate program in higher education in Namibia. Framed in the interpretive paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative approach. Data were collected through an open-ended qualitative questionnaire distributed to participants in the first four weeks of the postgraduate program and a second time six months afterwards. The findings reveal that the use of the flipped classroom approach and the use of the reflective e-portfolio enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the delivery of the postgraduate program as well as in the participants' teaching practice.

scholarly journals Integrated Reporting Implementation and Core Activities Disclosure in UK Higher Education Institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Mahalaxmi Adhikariparajuli ◽  
Abeer Hassan ◽  
Mary Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Through integrated reporting (IR) and integrated thinking (IT), higher education institutions (HEIs) can engage future students, staff and other key stakeholders. This paper examines the impact of IR framework implementation on core activities disclosure within the UK HEIs. In particular, the authors explore the influence of the integrated thinking approach, intended to enhance the extent of the IR content elements, teaching and learning, internationalisation and research activities disclosure. The study is based on the annual reports of 123 UK HEIs over 3 years—2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18. Consistent with the predictions of legitimacy theory and the integrated thinking approach, the results show the extent that integrated reporting content elements and HEIs core activities disclosure practices have increased over the study period. The results also indicate that adoption of the IR framework, league table ranking position, key performance indicator reporting, size, research quality and graduate prospects all have significant positive influences on HEIs core activities disclosure. Based on the findings, the recommendations are that UK HEI governing and other regularity bodies, such as British Universities Finance Director Groups, Leadership Foundation in Higher Education and the Higher Education Funding Council, should consider development of voluntary integrated reporting guidelines and a core activities disclosure framework.

scholarly journals Does Accredited Professional Development for Academics Improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education?

2016 ◽  
pp. 1847-1866
Author(s):  
Claire McAvinia ◽  
Roisin Donnelly ◽  
Orla Hanratty ◽  
Jen Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Home Institution ◽  
The Many ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Impact

The authors are part of a team delivering accredited programmes in teaching at tertiary level, and have collaborated to examine the impact of their work and that of the team over more than ten years in this area: whether accredited professional development programmes for academics have improved teaching—and students' learning—in higher education. A review of the literature is presented, along with new research undertaken in their home institution. The authors' findings from both the literature and their most recent research indicates a range of benefits for higher education in providing and supporting accredited programmes for educators. However, they have also identified methodological issues in measuring these benefits and impact overall. The chapter discusses this work and connects it with the broader themes of this book. The authors emphasise the importance of effective teaching in the midst of the many complex changes influencing higher education at this time.

Higher Education and student engagement: implications for a new economic era

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 635-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Millican
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of rising fees and the increasing privatisation of higher education on the expectations of its students. It compares experiences in Canada, Australia and the US with conversations carried out in a UK university in 2012 (after the UK fee rise). Design/methodology/approach – The research was informed by Burns Systemic Action research (2007), following emerging lines of enquiry and responding to resonance in these. It brings together conversations held with new undergraduates, second and third year students and staff tasked with introducing engagement into the curriculum. Findings – Findings indicate that student expectations are heavily influenced by secondary schooling and a target-driven consumer culture but that change has been gradual over a number of years. Alongside wanting “value for money” and “a good social life and a good degree” students are heavily motivated by experience and keen to be challenged. Research limitations/implications – Because of the research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Practical implications – By comparing banking or transactional approaches to teaching and learning with critical pedagogy this paper hopes to highlight the importance of opening up rather than closing down opportunities for social engagement and experiential learning. Social implications – This paper makes a plea for social engagement that properly responds to the needs of communities resisting market-driven forces that treat students as consumers and expecting more rather than less from them in return. Originality/value – Lecturers are encouraged to rethink the pressures placed upon them by the current economic era and the tensions between competing agendas of employability and engagement.

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