My qualifications and direct teaching, assessing, assessment and lead internal verification experience have taken me far in my learning technologist career, and have supported me well in internal and external educational developments and projects. However, I wouldn't define myself as a typical teacher/lecturer, even though we all are to some extent. I am more aligned to curriculum design/development, assessing and quality assurance. Though I will give my due and say that I am a great and personable facilitator in enabling people to feel included and safe, and empowering them to contribute and share.
As it currently stands, my knowledge, skills and scholarly activity related to teaching, learning and assessment processes are demonstrated and evidenced through the following qualifications.
- Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (2014)
- Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (2014)
- Level 4 Certificate in Leading the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice (2015)
- Technology Enhanced Learning MSc (pass with merit 2016)
- Innovative Teaching in Higher Education (2023)
Additional to the above qualifications, I have sustained and deepened my learning, teaching and assessment knowledge by researching and disseminating my digital practice in my published pragmatic and accessible book; ‘Digital Learning, Teaching and Assessment for HE and FE Practitioners’ (2022). As well as publishing other written anecdotal and research-based pieces, contributing to other’s publications, my own frequent reflecting here and my day-to-day engagement with academics and relevant academic healthcare literature in my current role. Moreover, I have maintained my direct teaching, curriculum design/development, assessment and quality assurance experience throughout the following roles:
- Course tutor, assessor and internal verifier – Level 3 and 4 Diploma in Digital Learning Design (2014-2016)
- Course tutor and assessor – Level 4 Certificate in Technology in Learning Delivery (2013-2014)
- Course tutor and assessor – Level 4 Award for Technology Enabled Educators (2016)
- External Quality Assurer – including various qualification development and scrutineer work (2019-2021)
- Assessment Associate (2023-2024)
- Guest teaching in HE:
- Nottingham Trent University:
- ‘Developing Digital Capabilities for Nurses and Healthcare Staff’ (2023-present) - delivering frequent sessions to multiple nursing and healthcare CPD courses on the importance of digital literacies and how it relates to healthcare professions. With an invitation to complete a self-assessment to identify their development gaps and a starting point for their digital capabilities journey.
- ‘Planning and facilitating digital innovation - Snippets of practice’ (2022) – delivered guest teaching to two cohorts of healthcare students studying towards their BSc Leading and Innovating. The topic focused on my pragmatic situated examples of initiating, planning and facilitating digital innovation in an educational context. Whilst highlighting helpful processes and frameworks to support students develop their own digital innovation interventions in their contexts.
- ‘Learning approaches to inform Learning and Development opportunities’ (2019-2020) – delivered guest teaching to two cohorts of students studying towards their Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management. The topic focused on current digital technologies, learning design processes and a range of frameworks to support and implement digital learning interventions in their organisations.
- 5 peer observations of candidates undertaking their Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice (PGCAP) at Nottingham Trent University (2019)
- LDN Apprenticeships:
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE)
I had pondered over teaching philosophies back in 2019 'Facilitating my teaching philosophy'. Later developing plans to undertake the PGCLTHE ('Revisiting the teacher role' section, 2022) to upgrade and bolster my knowledge and practice in higher education teaching, as my teacher qualifications were undertaken during my time working in Further Education. At the end of October, for my 7 year NTU anniversary, I will have been in HE longer than I have FE. But to also join up all my academic threads since being in HE, as I feel it has been somewhat a disjointed experience getting involved in these academic topics, activities taught content and being part of an academic community. And to some extent, validate what I do know and excel in. However there's also ambitions to deepen my pedagogical understanding, application and develop my teaching skills, and to further support and develop my academic leadership, credibility, criticality and scholarship aspects of my role. As well as improving the scholarly articulation of my pedagogical approaches to underpin, inform design, evaluate and inspire innovation in our digital pedagogy practice. Which is embedded within the Digital Curriculum Team remit and throughout the IHAP Digital Learning Strategy. Of which is broadly achieved by engaging academics through curriculum redesign/enhancement-based conversations, work outputs (designs, processes and practice) and undertaking research.
Following completion of NTU’s 5-week short course ‘Innovative Teaching in Higher Education’ in March 2023. It was previously agreed that I could do PGCLTHE after my colleague had settled for a February 2024 start. However, as I stated at the bottom of that blog post I had a chat with Academic Practice Team at the end of 2023 and eventually we decided because I have SFHEA it might not be worth it. So I began conversations with the course team to obtain the content I was interested in, but didn't end up receiving it. I found I kept circling back to my learning objective for the content and I identified that the process is important to me and my role, therefore pursued it again. I guess another sub-driver was that it is a beneficial free qualification to hold that wouldn't be too hard for me to achieve; causing me more work than it might be worth - I'm already doing aspects as part of my full-time role and have covered similar ground before. So I looked for a September 2024 start. Today I attended the joint induction first session. I'm glad to be among a great cohort of existing and inspiring lecturers. No doubt I'll be reflecting on my journey and capturing ideas throughout this course as I progress through it. I have already been inspired by discussions from lecturers on revisiting what it means to teach and be a teacher/lecturer. The live synchronous sessions and asynchronous content will be of most value to me as mentioned earlier, as I am naturally doing the practical aspects in my role. Whilst not to sound egotistic, for once in my HE career I felt sufficiently experienced in academic practice amongst the audience. I enrolled with my just-about 7 years experience and holding SFHEA. But the PGCLTHE, non-apprenticeship pathway which is what I chose, is for those with a little more expertise. I also found it warming that I get access to a course mentor in academic practice and also a mentor from my department, Deputy Head. As previously with my earlier teaching qualifications and SFHEA this was absent.
This is also a good to remind myself of the reality of my educational beginnings to what I am about to undertake. A similar feeling to I had when I started my MSc where I felt I somewhat belong, but I have every right to be here, because I worked and chose to be. A huge achievement and commitment to my lifelong learning.
The 60 masters’ level credits course entails the following modules and assessments:
- Module 1 – Learning and Teaching, Reimagined, 20 credits
- Module 1 Formative assessment 1 - Your Teaching philosophy. 1000 words written description of your teaching philosophy.
- Module 1 Formative assessment 2 - Teaching Observations. 1 x 5 minute post- observation reflective video.
- Module 1 Formative assessment 3 - Inclusive practice. A narrated PowerPoint presentation on how to make your teaching more inclusive.
- Module 1 Formative Assessment 4 - 3-minute video tour of the NOW learning room.
- Module 1 Formative assessment 5 - Video submission (up to 55 minutes) of a selection of your teaching accompanied by a session plan and a short reflective video about your choice of recorded content.
- Module 2 – Enhancing Academic Practice, 40 credits
- Module 2 Formative Assessment 1 - Review of two research papers. 1200 words long.
- Module 2 Formative assessment 2 - Research Poster. Prepare a poster identifying your intended research focus.
- Module 2 Formative assessment 3 - Written portfolio (3000-word reflective journal with relevant supporting evidence).
- Module 2 Formative assessment 4 - Practice Professional Conversation.
P.S. It has been good to create a little tradition for myself when making my way into the city for the monthly live synchronous sessions - a saffron milk cake from Heavenly Desserts! My absolute favourite. Always the little things in life hey.
EDIT: February 2025. From my experience of achieving my Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector, 120 credits (2012-2014), when I worked in Further Education (2010-2016). I must say I did a lot more assessed work towards that - no negative judgement on the quality of PGCLTHE, as there are many things I have experienced on this that I had not during DTLLS. However, I recognise that the apprenticeship version of the qualification may have additional things to complete. On the DTLLS I completed 5 core/mandatory units and 4 optional units (below). Again, this was at level 5 and there was deep work on all assignments, especially on a range of learning theories. I also completed 77 hours 45 minutes of teaching practice and a number of those hours were observed practice. I'm not angry by this, as I benefited enormously in developing and applying my knowledge and practice and has served me well throughout my career to date. But the current question that sits with me is, why does FE have to do more than HE, especially when my former teaching qualification level is lower? Could this part of the conflict of the HE is better than FE dialogue? A simple answer could be that HE is more focused on critical thinking and application. But does that alone make you an effective teacher/lecturer? Teaching delivery and learner management in the classroom takes time to build up practical skills, with the support of ongoing mentoring. At this university new HE lecturers must contractually undertake PGCLTHE, awarded by Advance HE. From my earlier experience, I personally feel that new teachers/lecturers need to develop more theoretical understanding and practice before becoming a fully fledged teacher/lecturer.
Core/mandatory units:
- Continuing personal and professional development
- Curriculum development for inclusive practice
- Wider professional practice
- Enabling learning through assessment
- Applying theories and principles for planning and enabling learning
Optional units:
- Developing, using and organising resources within the lifelong learning sector
- Evaluating learning programmes (level 4)
- Identify the learning needs of organisations (level 4)
- Delivering employability skills
