Origin: Director of
Professional Development; Professional Standards Group
Learning
and Teaching Committee is invited to note the following response to the recent
Higher Education Academy consultation paper, ‘A framework for teaching
and supporting student learning in Higher Education’.
12. Questions for consultation
12.1 Is the purpose and rationale for the proposed
framework acceptable to
you and your institution/organisation?
The purpose
is broadly acceptable, but see comments below.
12.2 Are the statements of standards and the related
areas of activity
acceptable and workable as a common reference point for all institutions? Do
they enable your institution to add criteria to reflect your particular aims
and
learning outcomes?
Broadly workable,
but see comments below.
12.3
We are working with a pilot group of
institutions to introduce CPD
accreditation for the range of activities HEIs provide to staff who support
student learning. Could the proposed
framework be implemented within your institution's CPD policies and practices?
See
comments below.
Comments.
The lower
level places insufficient emphasis on skills and is more demanding on theory
than is appropriate for, say, PGR students doing a few hours of teaching a
week. The requirement that all five areas are addressed may be hard to meet.
There is a case for a zero-th level.
The middle
level may place demands on staff that, in a research-intensive institution,
will be seen as excessive and will lead to some staff adopting a compliance
approach.
The top
level is insufficiently concerned with higher levels of leadership and
management of learning and teaching and hence does not help with the higher levels
of CPD.
More
generally it would be helpful to promote an academic practice approach that
sees learning and teaching alongside an individual's other activities and seeks
to promote links across the full range of these activities.
The full
consultation paper can be found at:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/news/Consultations.htm