National Teaching Award success for Hull Historian

A University of Hull professor has been awarded one of the most prestigious teaching awards in Higher Education.

Joy Porter, Professor of Indigenous History, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for 2018. She is the latest Hull academic whose exceptional teaching has been recognised in this way, a group that includes Professor Kevin Burden, Dr Sarah Jane Dickenson, Professor Peter Draper, Professor Stewart Martin, Professor Marina Mozzon-McPherson, Professor Graham Scott, and Dr David Sands.

The National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) scheme celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education. The awards are the highest honour the Higher Education Academy bestows to those working in Learning and Teaching in Universities, recognising significant input at departmental, institutional and national level. Chosen from around 200 nominations across England and Northern Ireland, Professor Porter is one of just over 50 Fellows awarded recognition for their individual excellence and professional development.

Professor Susan Lea, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull, said: “Professor Porter is an exceptional teacher and scholar whose strong commitment to her students and their learning is matched by her commitment to her personal, world-leading research.

“This is a truly wonderful achievement, and one of which we are all very proud. Professor Porter is a remarkable motivator and an inspiring colleague. I would like to offer her my sincere congratulations on this award.”

Professor Porter has been particularly recognised for spearheading two projects aimed at transforming the student learning experience and the employability of diverse groups, particularly female students and students from diverse educational backgrounds.

The first project generated life-changing employment opportunities. Called !YEEH: A Year of Embedding Employability in History, it made lasting connections between students and 80 local SMEs, generated 36 ongoing internship relationships, and set in train curricular developments in relation to employability and its status.

The second project, Masters-level Curricular Innovation: Presenting Memory & Meaning in Historyused innovative technology to give postgraduate students a unique high-quality employability asset, of specific value to research councils and employers – a professionally filmed and edited record of their skills presenting complex analytical information.

Professor Porter said: “Research suggests that potential in History graduates and their abilities as analysts and logical thinkers can sometimes be underestimated. Feedback following each project evidenced positive cultural change in both staff and students in this regard – it is extremely exciting when employability takes centre stage in Faculty curricular development. Hull academics now work extremely closely with Hull’s award-winning Careers Service so as to generate tremendous impact for students.”

Professor Porter added: “Giving students the skills to carve out the future they want, in the way they want to, is central to the work I do.  After all, finding your passion and being intellectually inspired, is what the very best University experiences are all about. I’ve been privileged to work with exceptionally talented people at Hull who routinely make all this possible.”

As a student on one of Joy’s modules, which won the University’s 2017 Best Module Award, Sylvia Parker gave this glimpse into Joy’s teaching style:

“Joy makes our classes interesting and fun, she makes jokes throughout the class while introducing us to a whole new way of thinking and including everyone in discussions, making sure no-one is left out. Her upbeat style of teaching puts people at ease and allows for people to really enjoy and actually look forward to her classes. She encourages thinking outside of the box and being passionate about what you stand for which is really motivational and helpful.”

For further information on Professor Porters’ National Teaching Fellowship, see https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/national-teaching-fellows-2018?page=4

Related events:

• Joy is organising the 2018 Annual History Lecture ‘Cowboys & Indians: A 21^st Century Western’, 28 November 2018 6.30pm Middleton Hall. All are Welcome. Speaker: Professor Dale Turner, Anishinaabe Native American Indian Leader, Faculty, Department of Native American Studies, Dartmouth, New Hampshire & Treatied Spaces Research Cluster British Academy Visiting Fellow 2018.
• In January 2019 Joy and the University of Hull NTFs will be hosting a round table audience discussion and screening the award-winning film about the future of education ‘Most Likely to Succeed’.  https://vimeo.com/122502930 All Welcome. Further details contact: susannah.hopson@hull.ac.uk Tel: +44(0) 1482465460 https://treatiedspaces.com @treatiedspaces