Guidance for

D4 Principal

Fellowship

2018 Edition

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Contents

1. What does recognition mean? .................................................................................... 3

2. The GOLD Application Process for D4 Principal Fellowship .......................................... 4

2.1 Are you eligible to apply? Will you have to pay a fee? .............................................. 4

2.2 What the download REI looks like ............................................................................... 6

2.3 Are you ready to apply? ............................................................................................... 7

3. The UK Professional Standards Framework ................................................................ 8

3.1 The UKPSF has three aspects: Dimensions, Description and Criteria. ........................ 9

3.2 D4 Principal Fellowship description ........................................................................... 10

3.3 D4 Principal Fellowship Criteria I to V ....................................................................... 11

3.4 Good standing ............................................................................................................ 12

4. Developing yourself with a view to application ........................................................ 13

4.1 Peer review and dialogue .......................................................................................... 13

4.2 Updating your knowledge of teaching and learning ................................................. 13

Acknowledgements:

The University of Greenwich would like to thank the HEA for making available its various

explanatory notes, which have been invaluable in preparing this document.

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1. What does recognition mean?

The GOLD professional development framework provides a way of formally recognising

your commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning in higher education, based

upon validated evidence of your practice, knowledge and values. It is aligned to the UK

Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) developed in collaboration with the Higher

Education Academy (HEA) on behalf of the HE sector. It complements the other ways in

which effectiveness and commitment to teaching and learning are rewarded, such as the

National Teaching Fellowship scheme.

The GOLD professional development framework accredits three categories of fellowship

(D1 to D3), and supports direct application to the HEA for the fourth (D4). Whatever GOLD

fellowship you achieve, you will be awarded the equivalent HEA fellowship, entitling you

to the post nominal letters set out below:

D1 AFHEA – Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

D2 FHEA – Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

D3 SFHEA – Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

D4 PFHEA – Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Associate Fellowship, Fellowship, Senior Fellowship, and Principal Fellowship are accepted

as recognised teaching qualifications for the HE sector by HESA.1

The GOLD professional development framework supports all four categories and there is

a separate GOLD Guidance document for each category.

1 https://www.hesa.ac.uk/

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2. The GOLD Application Process for D4 Principal Fellowship

2.1 Are you eligible to apply? Will you have to pay a fee?

If you are a permanent member of University of Greenwich staff – full-time or fractional –

then you may be eligible to apply for and gain HEA D4 Principal Fellowship recognition. The

university will support you in your application and your faculty will pay the HEA application

fee. However, you must seek the approval of your Pro Vice-Chancellor (for faculty staff) or

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (for Directorate staff) before submission. Please follow the 2 stage

process outlined below.

Stage 1

Go the Principal Fellowship page of the HEA website at:

https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/fellowship/principal-fellow

Request your copy of the HEA Guidance Pack for Principal Fellowship. This contains

detailed advice about your application and how you should prepare and present evidence.

It suggests you begin by filling the Record of Educational Impact (REI) on the template

shown in section 2.2.

Fill out the REI as completely as you can, and make claims against the relevant D4 Principal

Fellowship criteria, as shown in the (one line) example.

Also consider who you will approach to be your advocates for Principal Fellowship. You

need three. One must be from University of Greenwich, one must be external to the

University of Greenwich, and one must hold a category of fellowship of the HEA.

Save your completed REI as a pdf and send it to a member of the EDU professional

development team: Dr Danielle Tran, Dr Timos Almpanis or Dr Paul Dennison, together

with the names of your suggested advocates.

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Stage 2

One of the team will meet you to go through the REI. You approach your proposed

advocates to see if they agree to support you. Based upon the REI and the responses of

your proposed advocates, the team member makes a recommendation which you forward

to your Pro Vice-Chancellor or Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who will e-mail you to say whether

the university will support your application or not.

• If your application is supported, you will be allocated a PFHEA coach from the GOLD

team who will guide your development and presentation of evidence. Once you

and your coach are satisfied with it, you submit your completed application to the

HEA as a direct applicant to the HEA. You will also be asked to complete a

Registration of Intent Form, signed by your Line Manager. The application fee is

paid by your Faculty or Directorate.

• If your application is not supported, you will be given feedback as to why this is the

case. The university will not pay for your application fee, however if you are

prepared to pay for this yourself you may choose to do so, and if you succeed, the

university will reimburse you the fee through your Faculty or Directorate. Clearly

in this case you bear the risk of your direct application not succeeding.

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2.2 What the download REI looks like

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2.3 Are you ready to apply?

Ask yourself three questions:

• Am I effective at teaching or supporting learning?

For example, am I familiar with current theories and practices of teaching and learning in

Higher Education? Am I up-to-date in my approach to teaching practice? Can I support

learning using contemporary approaches and back this up with scholarship about my

teaching subject? Am I conversant with the current university policies and strategies2, and

infrastructure (VLE, student management system, etc)?

• Am I professionally self-critical?

Do I reflect upon how I could do better, and how the things I am involved with could be

more effective? Am I someone who changes things for the better?

• Am I active in pursuing continuing professional development in teaching and

learning?

Have I been on a staff development course in the last 6 months, or attended a conference

in the area of teaching, learning and assessment?

The GOLD framework expects you to be able to answer “Yes!” to all these questions – and

give a reasoned evidential account of why your answer is “Yes!”. If your answer to any

questions is “No?”, then you are probably not ready.

2 http://www2.gre.ac.uk/about/policy

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3. The UK Professional Standards Framework

Areas of Activity

A1 Design and plan learning activities

and/or programmes of study

A2 Teach and/or support learning

A3 Assess and give feedback to learners

A4 Developing effective learning

environments and approaches to student

support and guidance

A5 Engage in continuing professional

development in subjects/disciplines and

their pedagogy, incorporating research,

scholarship and the evaluation of

professional practices

Core Knowledge

K1 Knowledge and understanding of the

subject material

K2 Knowledge and understanding of

appropriate methods for teaching,

learning and assessing in the subject area

and at the level of the academic

programme

K3 Knowledge and understanding of

how students learn, both generally and

within their subject/disciplinary area(s)

K4 Knowledge and understanding of the

use and value of appropriate learning

technologies

K5 Methods for evaluating the

effectiveness of teaching

K6 The implications of quality assurance

and quality enhancement for academic

and professional practice with a

particular focus on teaching

Professional Values

V1 Respect for both individual learners

and diverse learning communities

V2 Promote participation in higher

education and equality of opportunity for

learners

V3 Use evidence-informed approaches

and the outcomes from research,

scholarship and continuing professional

development

V4 Acknowledge the wider context in

which higher education operates

recognising the implications for

professional practice

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The Dimensions of the UK Professional Standards Framework are organised as follows:

3.1 The UKPSF has three aspects: Dimensions, Description and Criteria.

Dimensions:

There are the three Dimensions above, giving the 15 elements which specify WHAT a

Higher Education professional does, WHAT they need to know in order to do it, and WHAT

values are consistent with professionalism. They are found in the diagram on page 9

above.

Description:

This is given in section 3.2 below.

Criteria:

These are given in section 3.3 below.

Core Knowledge (What’s in their head)

Professional Values (What’s in their heart)

Areas of Activity (What a Higher Education professional

does)

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3.2 D4 Principal Fellowship description

Descriptor D4 (Principal Fellowship) is

distinctly different to Descriptors D1 to

3. It is relevant to highly experienced

teachers who are or have been widely

respected for their effective teaching and

who have progressed into senior roles.

They will have substantial experience

and knowledge of teaching and

supporting learning and will be using this

to make an impact at a senior level. The

nature of their work may mean that they

will not currently have any direct contact

with students in teaching or supporting

learning. Their work will normally

include the effective strategic leadership

of academic practice/development

leading to the development and

implementation of high quality student

learning experiences.

The evidence used for D4 will be

dependent on the context in which the

individual is working but in many

respects is likely to be fundamentally

different from the type of evidence

required for D3. The focus need not

primarily be on an individual’s teaching

and learning practices but might focus on

the contributions made, for example, to

subject pedagogy, innovative

approaches, and the evidence of

effectiveness and impact at a strategic

level. This evidence can draw on a broad

range of experiences and activities and

be underpinned by an understanding and

commitment to the Core Knowledge

and Professional Values.

As the individual will not necessarily have

immediate contact with learners they

would need to draw on examples of their

work which illustrate their understanding

of the use and the value of the UKPSF.

This might include how they have used the

framework to shape and develop policy,

strategy and schemes within their

organisation. For example: a learning and

teaching strategy underpinned by

professional values; an institution wide

peer review of a teaching scheme

incorporating the UKPSF which is then

further recognised in promotion

structures; the development and

implementation of innovative teaching and

learning approaches within the

organisation in response to the specific

needs of their students.

At the heart of Principal Fellowship

lies the demonstration of ‘strategic impact

and influence’ in the context of one or

more locations, institutions or

organisations. Evidence will therefore

need to draw on ‘cycles’ or ‘levels’ of

influence including evidence drawn from

institutional, national and/or international

settings. The emphasis on ‘a sustained and

effective record of impact’ means that it

would be highly unusual for a D4

application to be evidenced solely on the

basis of completing a programme or

course. However, completion of a

relevant programme or course (in

leadership for example) might constitute

part of the evidence but would not alone

be adequate for successful demonstration

of the Descriptor.

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3.3 D4 Principal Fellowship Criteria I to V

3.4 Good Standing

Principal Fellows (D4) demonstrate a

sustained record of effective strategic

leadership in academic practice and

academic development as a key

contribution to high quality student

learning. Principal Fellows should be able

to provide evidence of:

I. Active commitment to and

championing of all Dimensions of

the UK Professional Standards

Framework, through work with

students and staff, and in

institutional developments

II. Successful, strategic leadership to

enhance student learning, with a

particular, but not necessarily

exclusive focus on enhancing

teaching quality in institutional,

and/or national, and/or

international settings

III. Establishing effective organisational

policies and/or strategies for

supporting and promoting others

(e.g. through mentoring, coaching)

in delivering high quality teaching

and support for learning

IV. Championing within institutional

and/or wider settings, an integrated

approach to academic practice

(incorporating, for example,

teaching, learning, research,

scholarship, administration, etc)

V. A sustained and successful

commitment to, and engagement in

continuing professional

development related to academic,

institutional and/or other

professional practices.

Principal Fellows, as highly experienced

academics, are able to provide evidence

of a sustained and effective record of

impact at a strategic level in relation to

teaching and learning, as part of a wider

commitment to academic practice. This

may be within their institution and/or

wider national and/or international

settings.

Typically, those likely to be at Descriptor

4 (D4) include:

a. Highly experienced and/or senior

staff with wide-ranging academic or

academic-related strategic

leadership responsibilities in

connection with key aspects of

teaching and supporting learning

b. Staff responsible for institutional

strategic leadership and

policymaking in the area of teaching

and learning

c. Staff who have strategic impact and

influence in relation to teaching and

learning that extends beyond their

own institution

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3.4 Good standing

All Fellows of the HEA and Fellows of the GOLD scheme are required to maintain their good

standing.

“A person or organisation is said to be in good standing if they have fulfilled their

obligations. It is your responsibility to ensure you remain in good standing and continue

to work in line with your relevant Fellow descriptor standard (D2).

“We expect HEA Fellows to be working towards their next award and be performing, or

out-performing, their current Fellow descriptor standard. All Fellows should therefore be

able to demonstrate compliance with (at least) their awarded level at any given time.

Fellows should record their professional development activity to ensure that they remain

in good standing.”

Slightly adapted from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ukpsf#section-5.

In the Fellowship Application form we ask you to record a Professional Development Action

Plan (section 4). This plan is the best way of evidencing your on-going commitment to

remaining in good standing, and you should formulate it as part of your annual appraisal

process. Excerpt from the appraisal documentation:

“For staff who have achieved HEA Associate Fellowship / Fellowship / Senior Fellowship /

Principal Fellowship please demonstrate how you will continue to work in line with the

relevant Fellow descriptor as outlined in the UKPSF and the Fellowship of the HEA

Code of Practice.

For those who have not received any level of fellowship please discuss with your appraiser

the level of fellowship appropriate for you to achieve.”

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4. Developing yourself with a view to application

The GOLD framework is not there simply in order to “rubberstamp” your previous

experience and the responsibilities you already have. It’s there to encourage you to

commit to developing yourself. There are many ways in which you can do this, and we list

a few suggestions.

4.1 Peer review and dialogue

The easiest and most direct way to develop your skills is to review practice among your

peers. You can also use discussions with external examiners, colleagues on university

committees and networks, or from beyond the university to renew your ideas. This is

particularly easy to do at conference events, such as the annual university conferences.

There are informal opportunities for sharing your ideas constructively on a day-to-day

basis. These may relate to any of the areas of activity you engage in and can either be

face-to-face or online. It all helps shape your thinking and provide evidence of

professionalism.

4.2 Updating your knowledge of teaching and learning

Update your knowledge of teaching and learning by reading some of the following:

• Aubrey, K. and Riley, A. (2015) Understanding and Using Educational Theories,

London: Sage.

• Cleaver, E., Lintern, M. and McLinden, M. (2014) Teaching and Learning in

Higher Education. Disciplinary Approaches to Educational Enquiry. London:

Sage.

• Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook. Second Edition. Basingstoke:

Palgrave Macmillan.

• Cottrell, S. (2011) Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and

Argument. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

• Fry, H. Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (2009) A Handbook for Teaching and

Learning in Higher Education 3rd Edn, London: Routledge

• Forde, C. McMahon, M. McPhee, A. Patrick, F. (2015), Professional

development, reflection and enquiry London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

• Illeris, K. (ed). (2009) Contemporary theories of learning: learning theorists ...

in their own words, London: Routledge

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• Light, G., Cox, R. and Calkins, S. (2009) Learning and Teaching in Higher

Education: The Reflective Professional 2nd Ed London: Sage Publications.

• Murray, R. (Ed.) (2008) The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in HE, Open

University Press.

• Race, P. (2010) Making Learning Happen 2nd Edn, London: Sage Publications

• Sellars, M (2014) Reflective Practice for Teachers. London: SAGE Publications

Ltd.

• Tarrant, P (2013) Reflective Practice and Professional Development. London:

SAGE Publications Ltd.

• Weller, S (2016) Academic Practice. Developing as a Professional in Higher

Education. London: Sage. Chapter 12: Undertaking enquiry into learning and

teaching

All of these texts are available in the University of Greenwich library.

There are also excellent online resources at the HEA website

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources.

You can attend the Open Lectures in Teaching and Learning, details of which you can find

on the Staff Development tab of the Staff Portal. There are also recordings of Open

Lectures in Teaching and Learning at http://vimeo.com/channels/uogedu .

You can attend the University of Greenwich Teaching and Learning conference and access

keynotes and presenters at:

https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/edu/SHIFT2012/schedConf/archive .

The Educational Development Unit arranges learning and teaching CPD workshops that are

aligned with the UKPSF, details of which can be found on the EDU website under CPD

programme.