Developing people and enhancing practice

Introduction

This award is relevant to all experienced professional and academic staff in further/higher education who wish to develop or gain accreditation for their contributions to improving the experience of learning for colleagues and learners in their discipline or field. 

Aims

• To support individuals and teams of staff in their personal and professional practice and development
• To recognise individual contributions to enhancing practice by participants
• To advance the professional understanding and skills of participants by promoting scholarly and research informed practices, evaluation and dissemination of outcomes for the purpose of enhancing quality and the student learning experience
• To build the capacity of staff as professionals contributing to the development of knowledge, skills and practice for communities, teams and education in their setting.

Audience

Established and experienced staff whose role involves developing educational and learning practices for themselves and others so as to enhance and extend student learning, academic practices and the subject experience.

• School / faculty / department-based learning and teaching coordinators (with many different role titles)
• Staff from a range of developmental projects and initiatives of various scales, both internally and externally funded
• Staff undertaking peer review; mentoring; provision of learning resources and support, including e-learning; programme and curriculum leadership and development
• Quality enhancement staff
• Staff leading and delivering postgraduate certificates in learning and teaching in higher education
• Staff of central educational development units.

Values

Award recipients will have shown how their work is informed by the SEDA Values:

1. Developing understanding of how people learn
2. Practicing in ways that are scholarly, professional and ethical
3. Working with and developing learning communities
4. Valuing diversity and promoting inclusivity
5. Continually reflecting on practice to develop ourselves, others and processes.

Core development outcomes

Additionally award recipients will be able to:

1. Identify their own professional development goals, directions or priorities
2. Plan for their initial and / or continuing professional development
3. Undertake appropriate development activities
4. Review their development and their practice, and the relations between them

Specialist outcomes

Award recipients will be able to:

1. Explain how their decisions and actions support and are informed by the organisation’s mission and appropriate strategies, including quality and wider considerations
2. Contribute to enhancing the student experience through application of their specialist skills, knowledge and understanding in developing inter alia staff, peers, educational experiences and/or processes
3. Monitor and evaluate their effectiveness and impact through critical review and reflection
4. Contribute to scholarship and enhancement of educational practices and processes through dissemination of outcomes and identify appropriate follow up activity.

Named award co-ordinator