One of the main aims of the Teaching Excellence Academy here at the University of Hull is to support colleagues across the institution in the development of excellent teaching. We achieve this through a framework of activities including workshops, formal extended programmes of study and bespoke support for individuals and groups of individuals (our programme of activity can be found here). One of the key principles that we adopt is that the enhancement and development of excellent practice should be underpinned by scholarship, our own and the work of others.
As academics, when faced with a challenge in our disciplinary research we typically revert to the literature and to the work of our peers – it’s what our academic training has taught us to do. But how often do we do that when faced with a challenge in our teaching? When such a challenge is overcome (or even when it is not!), how often do we share our experience with peers beyond our immediate circle? Well on a positive note the answer to both of these questions is more likely to be that we do take a scholarly approach to teaching and to the dissemination of practice more today than we have done in the past – and this is a good thing. But making the move to a scholarly or structured educational enquiry/pedagogic research based approach to the development of our teaching practice can be daunting. Where do you start?
To support colleagues who would like to begin or continue to take a scholarly approach to the evaluation and enhancement of their teaching practice the Teaching Excellence Academy is delighted to be able to host a one-day symposium on the 15th of January next year. The day will begin with a keynote from Professor Tina Overton (Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence) who will consider the question Why should we take a scholarly approach to teaching? Drawing on her extensive experience in the UK and Australia and reflecting upon a personal journey that started here at the University of Hull. We will then adopt an active workshop based approach to explore the why and how of enquiry, the ethical considerations of enquiry and the dissemination of the outcomes of enquiry. We look forward to seeing you at this event.
To book onto our Winter Symposium, please click here.