In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers.
Dr. Jo Berry, PFHEA
Jo Berry gained her PFHEA in November 2021 and is an Associate Professor in the School of Culture and Communications, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She’s held a range of College, School and institutional roles, including Dean of Assessment and Feedback. She is currently the School Education Lead. Her passion is supporting student learning through effective assessment and feedback and inclusive learning practices.
She shares with us why she applied for Principal Fellow recognition and what this means to her.
In the HEA Fellowship blog, we’re continuing to measure the impact that HEA Fellowship has on teaching practices, on students and on the practices and approaches of peers.
Dr. Claire Morgan, PFHEA
Claire Morgan gained her Principal Fellowship recognition in November 2021 and joined a small, but growing number of Principal Fellows at Swansea University. Claire is Associate Professor in the Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science specialising in cancer genetics.
Claire gained her PFHEA through the themes of strategic leadership in establishing/delivering the first NHS funded Genomic Medicine MSc in Wales to educate the healthcare professionals in genomics, Programme Director for the Genetics and Medical Genetics BSc Programmes, her external roles such as external examiner for HEI institutions including Bangor, Aberystwyth, Kings/St George, as well as her advisory role in subject specialist groups.
She shares with us why she applied for Principal Fellow recognition and what this means to her.
My honest answer in why I applied is that the University decided to embed HEA fellowship status into the University’s strategic goals. I therefore applied and obtained Fellowship in 2015 and in 2016 I applied for Senior Fellowship. However, in the process of applying for both FHEA and SFHEA it became more than a “tick box” exercise but one of self-reflection and to examine my own teaching practice. Now as programme director of the UG genetics and medical genetics programmes and the MSc Genomic Medicine programme, I felt I should apply for Principal Fellow to continue my journey of self-reflection but also to act as a role model to my colleagues and the students on my courses and for external recognition that my teaching and leadership is of a high professional standard.
Obtaining PFHEA is a prestigious accolade. It allows my teaching to be recognised and that my efforts and commitment to both students and staff are valued.
In terms of applying, Swansea University doesn’t have an internal route which is accredited, so all applications are submitted direct to Advance HE for scrutiny. Following the retirement of Professor Jane Thomas, Director of SALT and PFHEA holder herself in November 2020, there were no structured support options available internally.
But Claire is self-admittedly “someone who is very independent” and while SALT established an internal TEAMs site for staff interested in applying for PFHEA, she also contacted AdvanceHE and reports that she “had a detailed discussion with Sally Bradley, senior advisor for HEA Fellowships, which was extremely beneficial.”
In commenting on the application process itself, Claire notes
“The application process is challenging on several levels. You have to provide specific details of your leadership and your contribution and what impact that has had at institutional level or beyond, whilst at the same time adhering to stringent guidelines and word counts. You also must “blow your own trumpet” which can be disconcerting for many people – myself included! But what is key to obtaining PFHEA status is how well you can evidence your strategic leadership with specific examples and ultimately the impact of your leadership.”
There are four categories of Fellowship recognition, Associate, Fellow, Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow with these often being mistakenly for things you progress between and/or reflect seniority.
While Claire has gone ‘through the categories’ so to speak, she notes that the key difference between Senior Fellow (SFHEA) and Principal Fellow (PFHEA) is that
“SFHEA is concerned with supporting other members of staff through supervision, mentoring etc through leading academic teams or specific areas of L&T. The PFHEA still encompasses these roles, but PFHEA goes beyond supporting immediate members of your team. You must demonstrate and evidence your leadership across the University and also externally – how you have led changes that has far reaching impact”
The UKPSF which underpins the Fellowship categories was launched in the mid 2000s and re-issued in 2011 following a consultation. Its probably fair to say that Swansea had a slower start that other institutions in adopting the UKPSF and numbers of Fellows remained very low – less than 100 staff holding any category of Fellowship in 2015. The UKPSF though is embedded within framework for reward and recognition, from appointment to promotion.
So, with that timeframe in mind, is having Fellowship recognition changing perceptions of teaching?
“Definitely, no longer are lecturers seen as “just doing teaching”. Having HEA fellowship is formal recognition, either internally or externally, of your commitment and experience to the educational process and your area of expertise.
Having to apply for PFHEA directly to Advance HE added another level of esteem as my application had to be reviewed externally giving me confidence that my leadership and impact could withstand external scrutiny.”
Helping others to get their Fellowship recognised
The internal route to HEA Fellowship administered by SALT relies heavily on the contributions of those who already hold Fellowship/Senior Fellowship or indeed Principal Fellowship, to support colleagues in preparing their application. Claire has acted in that role as mentor and assessor and notes that its
“not only a rewarding experience by helping others but has been of personal benefit to me too. Providing feedback on applications and assessing submissions requires discussions with my colleagues, which has allowed me to learn from them and their experiences.
Not only am I able to disseminate my own best practice to others, but I am able to learn from them in turn, and disseminate best practice from other colleagues/departments (as well as an awareness of what may not be best practice) into my own teaching and that of my teaching staff, as a result enhancing student satisfaction, curriculum development and career progression of my teaching team.”
Quite often, those with PFHEA recognition are not teaching/supporting learners but involved in strategically leading policy. Not for Claire though and when asked if she might stop teaching now she has PFHEA recognition she gave a robust NO.
“This is my job and I enjoy it. I am passionate about genetics and genomics and imparting that information onto students. I also enjoy supporting colleagues and in turn learning from them.”
And, so those thinking about, but perhaps not turned their attention to gaining recognition, she gives this strong advice.
“Just do it – it is such a valuable and rewarding exercise/experience. You cannot “fail”, you get the opportunity to respond to feedback and revise your application. It makes you think about your teaching, why you do what you do and how you can improve, at the same time as obtaining validation and recognition for all your hard work and commitment. There is nothing to lose but so much to be gained.”
Providing evidence of undertaking Continuing Professional Development (CPD)(1) or Continual Professional Learning (CPL) especially for HEA Fellowship claims (any category) can resort to a list of courses attended (in person/online). While certainly applauding an ongoing commitment to keeping practice up to date and having enough time to engage in numerous CPD opportunities, providing a list (bullet points or in sentence format) does not necessarily evidence the learning.
The important part is to take stock and reflect on ‘how can I apply what I’ve learnt?’ and if you did ‘what did I learn from that experience?’ ‘What worked well, what might need improvement?’ This demonstrates how you use evidence informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and CPD to enhance your practice (V3 of the UK Professional Standards Framework.)
Evidencing engagement in your Twitter PLN and through Tweetchats have been questions asked of prospective HEA Fellowship applicants. And that in turn has led to a wider consideration of evidencing learning.
Is evidence of engagement through responses to the Questions as captured in the Storify/Wakelet sufficient?
What if you didn’t actively contribute (2) but afterwards reviewed in greater detail the responses to the questions, refined the answers down to what might you felt was appropriate to your own practice?
Does that ‘count’ and if so, how can you evidence it?
Recently, I came across a reflective post using Pebblepad software about evidencing engagement in Tweetchats that I had found a few years ago but had forgotten about!
The recommendations there from David Eddy (@sonofedd) about spending a few moments to jot down your key takeaway message from the Tweetchat is so valuable. As are his observations that if you are engaging/watching, you are building your Personal Learning Network and sharing ideas on effective practice. That’s been so true for me.
As an educator, you can also initiate a subject-based Tweetchat perhaps in lieu of a Q&A session…and perhaps ask all students to produce a ‘reflection’ on key points learnt to enable any ‘non active’ participants to demonstrate their key learning ‘take aways’ – written/audio/video formats perhaps?
This in turn enables participants to demonstrate a great range of ‘deeper’ learning including consolidation, critical thinking and analysis that just ‘contributing’ during the live event may not. It would also address the ‘lurker’, ‘quiet thinker’ or ‘introvert’, acknowledging various ways in which we learn (K3). The ‘reflection’ aspect could address much of the discussion over the past year of trying to demonstrating ‘engagement’ or ‘interaction’ online (synchronously or asynchronously) as a proxy for demonstrating learning (see work of Bozhurt et al, Cain and Honeychurch in the Exploring Further section).
There are a few TweetChats in Higher Education: #LTHEChat and #CoachingHE are ones I follow (not necessarily participate every time), I will look at the curated Wakelet afterwards though if I think the topic may be of relevance to my needs). But there may ones in your specific discipline and so following key people, relevant hashtags and curating tweets, e.g. using Wakelet will help you cope with what can be a high volume of rapid exchanges!
So, returning to the issue of evidencing your own continuing professional learning, perhaps you may want to be selective about what CPD/CPL opportunities you DO engage with and critically review your practice first. What would you like to improve, before choosing CPL activities possibly based on ease/availability? Don’t forget that CPL can be asynchronous or synchronous, individual or a shared learning experience with others (Ferman, 2002). And most importantly, reflect on the impact on your practice afterwards.
Notes
(1) A5 of the Dimensions of Practice of the UK Professional Standards Framework
(2) Often called ‘lurking’ or ‘vicarious learning’, this, often “silent engagement”, does not mean that ‘participants’ aren’t learning because they aren’t contributing to the live TweetChat. There are lots of reasons why participants may be hesitant or unable to contribute ‘live’, including imposter phenomenon – Clance and Imes, 1978).
Bozhurt A.; A. Koutropoulous, L. Singh and S. Honeychurch (2020) ‘On lurking: Multiple perspectives on lurking within an educational community’, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol 44, Article 100709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.100709
Ferman T., (2002) ‘Academic professional development practice: What lecturers find valuable’, International Journal for Academic Development, 7(2), 146- 158. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144032000071305
The Recognition Team (consisting of myself, Darren Minister and Natalie Morgan) organised a Writing Frenzy, attended by 7 applicants for HEA Fellowship/Senior Fellowship on Friday September 6th 2019. The “Frenzy” saw us trying a new approach to writing support for HEA Fellow applicants. This is the first of a 2 part blogpost reflecting on delivering a different type of learning support.
Calling it a Fellowship Writing Frenzy possibly conjures up a room full of people screaming, typing away and perhaps some melodramatics when the writer’s block kicks in. Possibly a bit of this…..
But not so. Using a Pomodoro Time Management TechniqueTM (Cirillo F, 2018), I applied an approach used by a colleague, Dr. Kate Cuthbert at Nottingham Trent University (@Cuthbert_Kate) which was to just provide participants with caffeine, snacks and space to write – with a little bit of guidance on the side. There was no opportunity for formative feedback on the content written, since opportunities exist elsewhere for this.
How was it different from our existing support sessions?
Other sessions we run are usually 3 hours in duration and require homework, in-class discussions, exploration of good tips with fairly limited time for writing. Most attendees have appreciated the activities of looking at an extract/example of a Fellowship application, applying the Fellowship criteria, considering the recommendation and feedback. All with the view of applying that knowledge to their own draft, albeit little actual time spent writing their own story during those sessions.
In September’s Frenzy, guided by material supplied by Kate Cuthbert, we adapted a series of 30 minute blocks of activity (K2, K3) from 10 – 2.30 p.m., with information of what makes an effective account and at the end of the day, the application form requirements plus tips from one of our assessors (K1). Initially we encouraged attendees to plan their day using their Needs Analysis with refinement of specific goals to bring a sense of achievement recommended through this approach (K2, K3).
Why did we try something new?
Our ‘usual’ sessions run usually during the term time and are carefully scheduled on the run up to application deadlines. The scheduling takes into account vacation periods and avoids exam marking and graduation commitments. From October 2018, they have however been optional and in most cases only a handful of attendees. Attendance at the sessions doesn’t guarantee first-time application success (and numbers have been so low to mean statistical tests in relation to outcomes aren’t valid), but we want to be able to offer support to colleagues. So, we asked ourselves the questions:
Is it the “homework” required beforehand for our usual offering which is off putting?
Is it the timing of the sessions and/or when they are delivered?
Are the titles of the sessions uninspiring?
Is it the general availability of the sessions? When are they needed most?
Feedback from the sessions over the years has been positive but it seems that time availability as well as procrastination are key factors affecting someone’s engagement. So, a focused session seemed to be an appropriate response to address putting off writing (Oakley, 2015; Flint, 2019).
Would we call it a writing retreat (or did that seem too ‘serious’?). We opted for as much alliteration as possible Fellowship Friday Writing Frenzy – to convey a little bit of fun too.
Writing Retreats aren’t new, and I also offered similar ‘Shut Up and Write Sessions’ in the very early stages of promoting HEA Fellowship. You can’t just designate a ‘writing day’ though. Having some structure and focus is important and recent research reinforces the value of the structured approach to improving the writing process for academic staff preparing research publications (Kempenaar and Murray, 2019 and Kramer and Libhaber, 2016). There are also various types of ‘writing groups’ that can be formed to support general writing/research writing (Rockquemore K-A, 2019).
So What? Was the new format successful?
Defining “success” OR “impact” as all those supporting learning will attest to is not straightforward.
Is success measured in amount of words written during the day?
Progress in identifying specific goals?
Quality of written feedback on the drafts?
Whether the actual submissions are successful first time?
Are new connections made to foster support and/or collaboration?
Increased confidence for the writer?
Kate Cuthbert said a key thing about the session was the learning environment – making it comfortable but welcoming. On the walls we had inspirational quotes about writing and reflection, the UKPSF, guidelines about the difference between Fellow and Senior Fellow, on the tables, some mints to keep everyone going, and importantly refreshments and biscuits!
Success? Well while some found the timing of the writing sessions too short – 25 minutes – the feedback we had was:
“Needed this time and space away from the office to jumpstart my writing”
The session was a “very helpful day, well structured, organised” and that it provided an “opportunity to write without distractions”
Recognition Team staff provided “clear, knowledgeable advice about the process”
No feedback about the learning environment! Something to think about for future delivery.
Moving Forward
We’ve recently scoped the appetite for future “Writing Retreats” at the end of this term and start of next term. Please let us know what you think by completing this survey: https://bit.ly/2kHbwVt
Recognition Team staff are willing to provide a variety of approaches to help you prepare your Fellowship applications. But we can’t write it for you. You have to reflect on and write your own story.
Don’t let this be your reflection in October 2020:
Watch out for part 2 of this series.
References:
Cirillo, F. (2018) The Pomodoro TechniqueTM: The Life-Changing Time-Management System, Virgin Books: London
Kramer, B. and E. Libhaber (2016) “Writing for publication: institutional support provides an enabling environment” BMC Medical Education, London Vol. 16, (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0642-0
Kempenaar, L. and R. Murray (2019) “Widening access to writing support: beliefs about the writing process are key” Journal of Further and Higher Education; Abingdon Vol. 43, Iss. 8, (Oct 2019): 1109-1119. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2018.1450964
Oakley, Barbara (2015) “Ketchup on work with the PomodoroTM method”, The Times Educational Supplement; London Iss. 5163, (Sep 11, 2015).
Professional recognition is important in any industry, and HE is no exception.
About you
My name is Catherine Groves. I am an ‘accidental’ academic, who came to HE about 8 years ago, from a career in senior management in the third sector. I am a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and have been teaching at Swansea School of Management two years ago. I am Programme Director for undergraduate programmes in Business and Marketing.
Why did gaining Fellowship recognition matter to you? Why apply?
I achieved my Fellowship recognition about five years ago in my previous institution, and found it to be an empowering and thought-provoking process. It definitely helped me to understand more about what worked with my students and why. On coming to Swansea, my Fellowship of the HEA definitely made me more employable.
Since my appointment, I have taken up the Programme Director role, and this has required to me to provide some leadership within the school. The School of Management had very few Senior Fellows at that time, and so I felt that applying for Senior Fellowship would demonstrate how important professional recognition was.
What did you “glean” from the process of preparing an application with reference to the UK PSF?
The process made me explore my profession much more closely. In order to make my application, I needed to discipline myself to re-engage with reading and research, things which often fall off the agenda when you are busy teaching.
How it has impacted the way in which you think about educating learners in the Higher Education environment?
I feel that I am now a more ‘educated’ educator, and am better able to provide guidance and support to my colleagues within the department. I have a better strategic grasp of my profession.
What is the most important element of the UKPSF in your opinion?
They are all important and one supports the others.
What were good parts of the application process? What things were more challenging?
The good parts: Completing my application really made me notice what I was doing well, and think more deeply about the transferable skills that I brought to my profession and used every day.
The challenging parts: I have to say that the process felt quite torturous, and the platform we had to use for the internal application, PebblePad+ was not really fit for purpose. Only one out of the four people from SoM got through at first submission, and if that person had not been me, I am not sure that I would have reapplied.
How you have continued to apply the standards of the UK PSF in your work since gaining that recognition? i.e. maintaining good standing.
I apply those standards every day in my work, and supporting my colleagues.
For someone not sure about applying, what words of encouragement could you offer?
Professional recognition is important in any industry, and HE is no exception. Even though I was already professionally recognised in one discipline, having the HEA Fellowship at whatever level, sets a benchmark for your practice.
What top tips would you offer to someone preparing a Fellowship application – any category?
Give yourself enough time. Think broadly about your experience, not just as an HE practitioner. You will certainly be more skilled than you realise, and taking a ‘whole self’ approach to your reflection will help you to make a deeper connection with your profession.[:cy]
Mae cydnabyddiaeth broffesiynol yn bwysig mewn unrhyw ddiwydiant, ac nid yw addysg uwch yn eithriad.
Amdanoch chi?
Fy enw i yw Catherine Groves. Rwy’n academydd ‘damweiniol,’ a ddaeth i’r sector addysg uwch tua wyth mlynedd yn ôl o yrfa yn y trydydd sector lle roeddwn yn aelod o dîm uwch-reolwyr. Rwy’n Seicolegydd Galwedigaethol Siartredig ac rwyf wedi bod yn addysgu yn Ysgol Reolaeth Abertawe ers dwy flynedd. Rwy’n Gyfarwyddwr Rhaglenni Busnes a Marchnata Israddedig.
Pam oedd cael cydnabyddiaeth Cymrodoriaeth yn bwysig i chi? Pam gwneud cais?
Cefais fy nghydnabyddiaeth Cymrodoriaeth tua phum mlynedd yn ôl yn fy sefydliad blaenorol, ac roedd yn broses a wnaeth fy ngrymuso a phrocio fy meddwl yn fy marn i. Yn bendant fe’m helpodd i ddeall mwy am yr hyn a oedd yn llwyddiannus gyda fy myfyrwyr a’r rheswm dros hynny. Pan ddes i Abertawe, yn bendant gwnaeth fy Nghymrodoriaeth gyda’r Academi Addysg Uwch fy ngwneud yn fwy cyflogadwy.
Ers cael fy mhenodi, rwyf wedi derbyn rôl Cyfarwyddwr y Rhaglen, ac rwyf wedi gorfod cynnig rhywfaint o arweinyddiaeth yn yr ysgol oherwydd hyn. Prin iawn oedd yr Uwch-gymrodorion yn yr Ysgol Reolaeth ar yr adeg honno, felly roeddwn yn teimlo y byddai gwneud cais am Uwch-gymrodoriaeth yn dangos pa mor bwysig oedd cydnabyddiaeth broffesiynol.
Beth gwnaethoch chi ei “gasglu” o’r broses o baratoi cais i Fframwaith Safonau Proffesiynol y DU?
Gwnes i ystyried fy mhroffesiwn lawer yn fwy manwl oherwydd y broses. Er mwyn gwneud fy nghais, roedd angen i mi ddisgyblu fy hun i ddechrau darllen a gwneud ymchwil unwaith yn rhagor – sef pethau sydd yn aml yn disgyn oddi ar yr agenda pan fyddwch yn brysur yn addysgu.
Sut mae hyn wedi cael effaith ar y ffordd rydych yn ystyried addysgu dysgwyr yn yr amgylchedd addysg uwch?
Erbyn hyn rwy’n teimlo fy mod i’n haddysgwr llawer mwy ‘addysgedig’ a fy mod i’n well o ran rhoi arweiniad a chymorth i’m cydweithwyr yn yr adran. Mae gennyf afael strategol gwell ar fy mhroffesiwn.
Beth yw’r elfen bwysicaf o Fframwaith Safonau Proffesiynol y DU yn eich barn chi?
Mae pob un ohonynt yn bwysig ac yn cefnogi ei gilydd.
Beth oedd rhannau da’r broses ymgeisio? Pa bethau oedd yn fwy heriol?
Y rhannau da: Trwy gwblhau’r cais, sylwais yr hyn roeddwn i’n ei wneud yn dda, a meddwl mwy am y sgiliau trosglwyddadwy roeddwn yn eu cynnig i’r proffesiwn ac yn eu defnyddio bob dydd.
Y rhannau heriol: Rhaid dweud bod y broses yn teimlo’n ddirboenus, ac nid oedd y platfform roedd yn rhaid i ni ei ddefnyddio ar gyfer y cais mewnol, sef PebblePad+, yn addas at y diben. Dim ond un o’r pedwar o bobl o’r Ysgol Reolaeth a lwyddodd ar yr ymgais cyntaf, a phe na bawn i wedi llwyddo, nid wyf yn siŵr a fyddwn i wedi ailymgeisio.
Sut rydych chi wedi parhau i gymhwyso safonau Fframwaith Safonau Proffesiynol y DU yn eich gwaith ers cael y gydnabyddiaeth honno? Hynny yw, cynnal safon dda.
Rwy’n cymhwyso’r safonau hynny yn fy ngwaith bob dydd ac yn cefnogi fy nghydweithwyr.
I rywun nad yw’n siŵr os yw am wneud cais neu beidio, pa eiriau y gallech eu cynnig i’w annog?
Mae cydnabyddiaeth broffesiynol yn bwysig mewn unrhyw ddiwydiant, ac nid yw addysg uwch yn eithriad. Er fy mod i eisoes yn cael fy nghydnabod yn broffesiynol mewn un ddisgyblaeth, mae cael Cymrodoriaeth yr Academi Addysg Uwch ar ba bynnag lefel, yn gosod meincnod ar gyfer eich ymarfer.
Pa argymhellion y byddech yn eu cynnig i rywun sy’n paratoi cais am Gymrodoriaeth – unrhyw gategori?
Rhowch ddigon o amser i chi eich hun. Meddyliwch yn eang am eich profiad, nid fel ymarferydd addysg uwch yn unig. Yn sicr, byddwch yn fwy medrus nag y byddwch yn sylweddoli, a bydd defnyddio dull ‘cyflawn’ wrth fyfyrio yn eich helpu i gysylltu’n ddyfnach â’ch proffesiwn.[:]
