Reflectiveteachingandsevenmythsofteachingexcellence

PaulAshwin,p.ashwin@lancaster.ac.uk

@paulashwinUKCouncilforGraduateEducationAnnualConference,

Liverpool,4th July2016

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Thepursuitofexcellence

Excellentteachingneedstoflourishacrossthesector;lacklustreteachingandunacceptablevariabilityinquality

needtobeaddressed.

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Myth1:Excellentteachingisaspontaneous,individualactivitythatislargelyaboutinspirationalperformance;

Myth2:Excellentteachersarealwaysgood,whilsttheold-fashionedneverchange;

Myth3:Innovativemethodsareatthecoreofteachingexcellence;

Myth4:Beingstudent-centredandstudentengagementarethe keyelementsofteachingexcellence;

Myth5:Teachingexcellencecaneasilybecapturedthroughmetrics;

Myth6:Thesemetricswillbeshapedbyourdefinitionsofteachingexcellence;

Myth7:Weshouldchangeourteachingpracticestofitwiththesedefinitionsofexcellence.

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AKeyTensionforHEPractitioners

Thelegitimacyofthecallforgoodteaching

Thedistortingtendencyof‘excellence’

ThechallengeofchallengingteachingexcellenceØ Whocanbeagainstit?Ø Notengagingwithexcellencehashugecosts;Ø Wecancontrolhowweengagewith

excellence;Ø Wecanensurewedothisinawaythatis

congruentwithscholarlyteachingpractices.

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