ESCalate Bulletin No. 70 (19 May 2011)

The Higher Education Academy is offering bid-based development grant funding to stimulate evidence-based research and encourage innovations in learning and teaching that have the potential for sector-wide impact.

Over the next year there will be a total of £1.5 million of funding available for individual grants, departmental grants and collaborative grants.

Phase One

The first phase begins with an open call for individual grant scheme bids. There is a total of £315,000 available in this phase with a maximum of £7,000 per project.

£28,000 is ring fenced for new academic staff (anyone with less than five years experience in a full time permanent post). A further £28,000 is ring fenced for HEA Fellows who have never had a teaching development grant
before.

Bids are invited from anyone responsible for the student learning experience who is working in higher education institutions in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or England that subscribe to the Higher Education Academy. The themes for this call are:

- internationalisation

- employability.

Closing date for phase one bids is 15 June 2011.

For full details, including how to apply, please visit: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/funding

Teacher Education Futures across the UK: Wales

Date: 7th June 2011 

Venue: University of Wales, Newport (New City Campus)

This workshop is presented by TEAN, the Teacher Education Advancement Network. The aim of the Wales event is to give an opportunity for colleagues to build on the collaboration which already exists between them to look at major issues facing Initial Teacher Education in Wales. There will be time to share ideas on developments in Wales and add your voice to the current debates. All outcomes of the day will be published on the TEAN and ESCalate websites.

Who is it for?

This event will be appropriate for all Initial Teacher educators in Wales, from HEIs or schools, and all those with an interest in teacher education in Wales.

Please reserve your place by completing the registration form.

Further details: http://escalate.ac.uk/8273

For queries about the workshop content contact: alison.jackson@cumbria.ac.uk


Teacher Education Futures across the UK: Scotland

Date: 14th June 2011 

Venue: University of Stirling Management Centre

The 2010 Donaldson report recommends the necessity of building stronger partnerships within teacher education in Scotland; partnership with local authorities and schools should be strengthened to create relationships which are collaborative rather than complementary. How best should these partnerships be forged? If effective partnerships are ‘central to success’, then there is a need for active discussion of the recommendations. The aim of this seminar is to create an opportunity for Local Authority and University partners to come together to debate the issues, to identify challenges and opportunities and to share ideas on ways forward.

Who is it for?

The seminar will be of particular interest to all those involved in the planning of initial teacher education courses, in all phases (early years, primary and secondary). We welcome colleagues working in Universities or Local Authorities.

Please reserve your place by completing the registration form.

Further details: http://escalate.ac.uk/8267

For queries about the workshop content contact: alison.jackson@cumbria.ac.uk 

This new discussions in education series booklet has been written following on from an ESCalate symposium held at the Universities' Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) conference in November 2010.

Aware of how teacher education provision across the UK was diverging, it was agreed to hold a symposium, in which four invited speakers would identify and discuss the changing landscapes of teacher education in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Those four speakers (Gerry Devlin, John Parkinson, Joan Whitehead and Ian Menter) have now written for this publication reporting on the key trends and themes identified and discussed in that symposium in early November 2010. The publication is introduced for us by Jean Murray.

If you would to receive a hard copy of this publication please send your mailing details to teresa.nurser@bristol.ac.uk (while stocks last, UK only).

Using Dialogue to Assess the Attainment of HE Practitioners for the UK Professional Standards Framework

Venue: University of Central Lancashire

Date: Tuesday 5^th July 2011

Time: 10.30am -3.30pm

Cost: £15 to cover lunch and catering

The ESCALATE Project ‘Using reflective dialogue to assess professional learning’ is completing in summer 2011, and is offering this workshop to share outcomes and findings on research undertaken into the use of dialogue for assessing attainment for the UK PSF (Professional Standards Framework) Standards Descriptors. 

UK institutions are being encouraged to design CPD frameworks to assess and reward the professional status of HE practitioners in teaching and learning support.  This project research explores the use of ‘Professional Dialogue’ as a rigorous and effective assessment tool which creates space for learning and reflection, and a means of assessing and embedding teaching and learning practice.

Colleagues are invited to explore the value of this tool for themselves and share practice and approaches for assessing and supporting experienced practitioners to achieve professional status using informal means.

For details of how to register please see the event page

'Inequality and its implications for education locally to globally'

Date: Thursday 23rd June 2011

Venue: Owen Building, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University 

A half day workshop in Sheffield, organised by ESCalate (HEA Subject Centre for Education), in partnership with the Development Education Centre South Yorkshire (DECSY), and Sheffield Hallam University.

Aims of the day:

• To look at issues of inequality and their implications for education locally to globally

• To explore and share good practice in teaching and learning around Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship (GC)

• To discuss ways to support developing good practice in the region.

Keynote speaker:

Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography, University of Sheffield

Audience:

- Teacher Educators / Academics
- Trainee Teachers / Students
- Teachers
- Local Authority / NGOs / professionals with an interest in these areas

The day will run from 9:30am - 1:15pm and includes lunch.

For more details or to register please visit http://escalate.ac.uk/8357

Date: Wednesday 6th July

Venue: University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, Lancashire

The ESCalate project ‘Employability  in the Curriculum’ is completing in summer 2011, and is offering this workshop to share outcomes and findings on research undertaken in employability in the curriculum in modules offered within the School of Education and Social Science. 

Who should attend?

This workshop is aimed at teacher educators, researchers and students. The workshop will offer delegates the opportunity to discuss their research  and teaching in the field of employability, to engage in narrative and teaching dialogue with other delegates in relation to employability and the curriculum. The workshop will offer opportunities for networking, collaboration and partnership work. This is an opportunity to be a part of a future change process in teaching and learning. Colleagues are invited to explore the value of this research for themselves and share ideas, best practice and take the opportunity to connect in a reflective and engaging dialogue in a productive environment.

How to register

Details and flyer available at http://escalate.ac.uk/8334

For bookings and offers of resources, please email Rpmorris1@uclan.ac.uk with the subject 'Workshop Booking’.

The Work of Teacher Education

Venue: Department of Education, University of Oxford 

Date : Wednesday 8th June

Time: 10.45-3.30pm

Cost: Free

Dr Viv Ellis will lead this dissemination seminar based on his team's ESCalate research project. The purpose of the seminar will be to report on the findings from the project and to promote discussion of their relevance and what the findings might mean for the practice of HEI-based teacher education, now and in the future. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Rooming constraints mean that the seminar will have limited space. If you are interested in participating, please email jane.mcnicholl@education.ox.ac.uk by Monday 23^rd May.

Dr Viv Ellis from the University of Oxford undertook a research project for us entitled 'The Work of Teacher Education'. The main body of the research has now been completed and written up for our website. The research raises serious questions about the way in which teacher education work within HEIs is organised and the division of labour both between schools and HEIs and within HE education departments.

Please see the ESCalate project webpage for full details and the complete final report.

To attend the dissemination seminar please see the event details.

We are delighted to announce that the ESCalate Student Award Winner for 2011 is Caroline Jane Ellis-Lockhart, studying a Postgraduate Certificate in Post-Compulsory Education at Glyndwr University.

Runners up include:

* Mandeep Bryant, studying a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (DTLLS) at the University of Wolverhampton.
* Barbara Nicolls, studying MSc in Technology-enhanced Learning at Bucks New University.

The winner and runner up essays are available to download and read by visiting our 2011 Student Awards resources page.

Thank you to everyone involved in this year’s competition.