A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

490 ❘
Enhancing personal practice
successful completion of an institutional postgraduate HE teaching qualification. It is
perfectly possible, of course, to build a strong subject-based competence as a teacher
without recourse to a formal programme, but well-delivered, ‘fit-for-purpose’
programmes present opportunities for structured engagement with key issues and
processes in relation to learning, teaching and assessment, skilled support, mentoring
and feedback, and an initial exposure to the scholarship of the field.
MOVING ON: BUILDING A BASE OF EXPERIENCE
After achieving and demonstrating initial competence in teaching there are a number of
proven ways to secure continuing career development. In broad terms these might
include some or all of the following:
• Gaining experience, confidence and competence across a wider repertoire of
teaching, learning and assessment methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate
levels.
• Leading the design and integration of larger ‘units’ of learning, for example, clusters
or sequences of modules across semesters; taking responsibility for the overall quality
of a substantial part or the whole of a course programme.
• Leading or managing curriculum innovation, both to enhance the student experience
and to provide a ‘market advantage’ to the institution, faculty or department.
• Securing small institutional grants and competitive national funding for
developmental projects or trialling of leading-edge practice. Success of this kind
develops project management and leadership capabilities as well as generating
academic outputs for dissemination.
• Gaining internal teaching awards or similar external recognition such as a National
Teaching Fellowship or HEA Senior Fellow status.
• Providing support, coaching and mentoring to colleagues and external, teachingrelated
consultancy or training to other institutions nationally and internationally.
Helping to deliver a formal postgraduate teaching programme for new staff is
an excellent way of sharing expertise and contributing to the next generation of
teachers.
• Building a base of expertise as an external examiner, including chairing examination
boards. Undertaking this kind of role exposes individuals to the fine-grained
workings of a range of other institutions and helps develop more rounded judgement
about teaching quality and standards.
• Significant responsibility within a graduate school.
• Contributing to the activities of, or taking a formal role in, appropriate national
committees, learned societies and HEA Subject Centres.
• Contributing to the accreditation and CPD activities of professional, regulatory and
statutory bodies. Engagement of this kind provides extensive opportunities for
subject/professionally specific CPD and may be particularly relevant to career