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

Teaching excellence and careers
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progression in areas such as law, medicine, dentistry and social work which are
regulated through a ‘licence to practise’.
• Participating in internal subject reviews and QAA academic reviews and institutional
audit activities.
• Undertaking further formal and accredited study to update, extend or replace initial
qualifications. This may be particularly relevant where individuals feel they have ‘hit
a ceiling’, choose to change roles or are required by their institution to add new skills
to existing expertise (see Case study 3).
• Engaging in teaching-related scholarship, research and editorial activity of a generic
and/or disciplinary nature.
Individuals who can demonstrate a convincing profile across most of the above categories
and who additionally evidence commitment to reflection and continuous professional
improvement should be well placed to respond to promotion criteria for senior
‘teaching-focused’ posts irrespective of institutional mission or their own teaching
specialism.
Case study 3: A Master’s award at Coventry University
A strategic decision at Coventry to make ‘third-stream’ activities the second major
activity in the university led to the revision of academic contracts to include
significant amounts of such activity. The opportunity was taken to review and
revise an existing Master’s programme that had previously focused solely on
teaching and learning. New modules were introduced. Developing an Applied
Research Profile offered an opportunity for participants to take stock of
their expertise, to learn new skills and to plan their future applied research.
The Centre for the Study of HE (CSHE) worked closely with the university’s
applied research support staff in order to offer the programme. A module in
Academic Leadership was designed to complement existing non-certificated
provision offered by human resources. The module focused on issues that were
specific to leadership in an academic setting, including distributed leadership,
collegiality and interdisciplinarity. An existing module, Perspectives on
Professional Practice, was revised to provide a core experience for participants.
Each module was made available on both a stand-alone basis and as part of a full
Master’s award. These changes, which brought provision into alignment with
the institution’s strategic plan, together with more focused and energetic
marketing, have meant that Coventry staff participation in the Master’s provision
has increased considerably.
(Prof Paul Blackmore, now King’s College London, and
Dr Andrew Rothwell, Coventry University)