Which Advance HE accreditation is right for you?

"Fellowship provides individuals with recognition of their practice, impact and leadership of teaching and learning, against the descriptors of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF)." (Advance HE 2019)

Advance HE Fellowship descriptors/categories are not hierarchical! A statement I make in every single workshop and conversation I have after someone states they are going to work their way up the levels.

You would be forgiven for thinking they are: the terminology would suggest it - Associate, Fellow, Senior and Principal.

Associate Fellow (AFHEA) is for you if:
Teaching and/or supporting learners is a part of your job but not the main focus. For example, you may be an information professional or a Graduate Teaching Assistant who doesn't design or assess learners but may support them on an enquiry desk or in a lab alongside a lecturer.

Fellowship (FHEA) is for you if:
You can show evidence of designing, assessing and teaching learners. You will probably spend a significant proportion of your time teaching. You will be interested in developing professionally, reflecting on your practice and, if you're newly employed at a University, successful completion may be part of your probationary requirements.

Senior Fellowship is for you if:
You have a thorough knowledge of effective practices and a sustained record of supporting others to improve their teaching and learning activities. Perhaps you mentor academics. Maybe you provide programmes of support to lecturers so they can improve their information literacy to the benefit of their students.

Principal Fellow (PFHEA) is for you if :

You work in a strategic leadership role and can show a sustained record of effectiveness of academic practice and development. Perhaps you are a Director of an Academic Practice department or a Vice Provost for Education.

Not hierarchical - RawPixels.com

The confusion arises because the categories are aligned to people's roles and these roles often change and develop over time. As new academics become firmly established they are sometimes given the responsibilities of mentoring others or supporting their colleagues; for example, with course design. You may be a Reader or Professor and have little to do supporting others so an Associate or Fellow category would be more suitable. Alternatively, you may be a newly employed educational developer whose sole role is to do this.

Have you decided yet? Now that Term 1 is coming closer to an end perhaps it's something you wish to consider for 2020. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Related posts:

Using the GROW coaching model to help someone reach SFHEA status
FHEA progress to date: Reflective Assessment Portfolio

Keeping up CPD when you've not had a decent night's sleep in years and have caring responsibilities

This is a post for all those who are unable to take part in conference season, for whatever reason. For those returning to work thinking 'how am I going to cope/prove I can do the job'. For those trying to balance work and caring responsibilities.

A major part of any professional role is to engage in continual professional development. It keeps skills, knowledge and behaviour up to date and to a standard, which is usually set by a professional body. For example:

• Part of the requirements for gaining a fellowship of the HEA are "successful engagement with continuing professional development in relation to teaching, learning, assessment and, where appropriate, related academic or professional practices".
• In librarianship, chartership is expected to be gained and revalidated continually.
• In coaching, a coach is expected to engage in coaching supervision.

Pre children: I went to conferences. I sat on committees. I organised conferences. I organised training and development for special interest groups. I trained and developed others in my spare time. I took part in Twitter chats. I sometimes got up at 4am on a Saturday (what was I thinking?!) to traipse across the country to attend 'unconferences'. I wrote articles. I blogged on my own blog and wrote guest blog posts. I read widely and deeply and wrote book reviews. I delivered guest lectures. I attended guest lectures. I networked. I was enthusiastic... and tired.

Presenting

I then had two children and changed jobs. I am still enthusiastic, and now even more tired.

We have been through some lovely ups and quite horrific downs with the children. But, good quality sleep, settling down with a good book, and networking till the wee small hours are all distant memories and unlikely to happen again for a while

Which brings me, finally, to my point. Is it still possible to engage in CPD when even a Twitterchat will most likely be interrupted by wailing and crying (sometimes from the children)?

This is how I sort of make it work.

Post children:

• I am much more strategic in my approach to what is necessary - so fewer things but better quality
• I still read professional books but much more slowly (I have book chapters marked out in my bullet journal that I am going to read that week)
• I still read journal articles (I use JournalTocs to keep me up to date with what's happening)
• I am growing a Twitter network of people in my slightly altered field which helps me to keep up to date and raise my own profile
• I read the Wakelets of the evening Twitterchats 
• I have started blogging again to aid my reflection and help others who wish to develop
• I talk to my colleagues rather than just put my head down and get my work done
• I attend lunch-time events where possible
• I have engaged in workplace training, including finally becoming a qualified Performance Coach

It's not glamorous and I miss dressing up for conference dinners (see below) but this is what it is - and it's more environmentally friendly! There's probably more I could be doing but for now this is enough. Whatever you're doing is enough.

How do you make it work?

What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring?

I lead workshops on mentoring as part of my role as an Academic Practice lecturer. All those trying to obtain Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, whether that be through the PgCap or Open portfolio route are required to have a mentor. We recommend that all the mentors who take on this important and rewarding role come to one of the workshops.

I am also training to become a coach so I can become part of the University’s coaching community. Despite making it clear to my ‘clients’ that I am a coach, not a mentor, and therefore cannot give advice - there is still occasionally some confusion. And sometimes frustration too when I won’t tell people what to do.

There are some similarities which often leads to the two words being used interchangeably. However, there are some key differences which show that they shouldn’t. So what are these?

Firstly, definitions:

Coaching is a process which ‘works on improving the performance and wellbeing of an individual or group through setting goals, exploring values and beliefs, and facilitating… plans of action’. Within the wider organisational context this would involve a conversation based around workplace goals and objectives, with the support of the coachee’s line manager.

Mentoring is a process where people ‘impart their own experience, learning and advice to those who are newer to a particular field’. Within the wider organisational context this is a professional development activity which supports the development and learning of the mentee by providing advice and guidance from more experienced colleagues. 

For example, mentees can find out information about other departments and discover tips for coping with returning from long-term sick, carer’s or parental leave. With regards to Academic Practice, the mentor would observe their teaching and help them locate and understand discipline specific pedagogic literature.

Some key similarities: 

• Coaching and mentoring are both about the development of the individual - this could be their performance at work or their well-being overall. 

• They both usually feature 1-1 relationships. Group coaching can occur but is less common due to confidentially. 

• Both involve communication skills and body language. The ability to listen and demonstrate listening are key to both coaching and mentoring so the individual being coached or mentored feels able to talk freely.

• Both require trust and confidentiality is expected. Trust is fundamental to creating a rapport between those involved. 

• Both can enhance performance. An individual can explore ideas within a safe space with their coach or receive advice from their mentor - both of which, if put into practice, will lead to progress. 

Some key differences:

• Time.  They can differ in the amount of time they take. Coaching is solution-focussed with the duration and number of sessions being agreed at the start of the process. Mentoring is a much more fluid process and a relationship can last years as opposed to the weeks or months more common in coaching. 

• Process. A mentor will provide advice and solutions to their mentee, based on their experiences. A coach will not do this. They will help the coachee to explore ideas and uncover their own answers. This is based on the belief the coachee is more likely to take responsibility and ownership of their choices if they have come up with them. 

• Job relevance and seniority. A mentor’s experience may be very relevant to the mentee as this is what the advice given will be based on. As the coach is not giving advice and is a neutral force, their own experience of the coachee’s work is less relevant and, in some cases, could cloud the process.

• Trust. While this is also mentioned as a similarity, the types of trust may differ. There is the added trust the client has of their coach that they know how to coach effectively and will lead the process in an ethical, sensitive and challenging manner. 

In summary,

While there are a number of key similarities between the coaching and mentoring, I think it is important to maintain a distinction so as not to confuse clients. This can also avoid potentially upsetting them when they realise their expectations aren’t going to be met. Clear communication at the beginning of any arrangement is crucial. I also like to send people I am arranging to coach a link to this article by Blaire Palmer on How to be coached.

Related posts: 

• Using the GROW coaching model to help someone reach SFHEA status 
• Coaching: passions and practice. 
• Using career planning ideas to inform coaching and mentoring 
• Using coaching skills to help people GROW 
• Coaching or how to listen without judgement

Over to you. Those of you who coach do you find similar problems? How do you approach them? 


Quotes from Wilson, C (2014) Performance Coaching,

Using the GROW coaching model to help someone reach SFHEA status

As part of my interview for my new role as Lecturer in Higher Education, I was asked to deliver a ten minute presentation prior to the questions. This is fairly common in the education sector and makes sense in any sort of teaching role as you are showing that you can present knowledgably and engagingly, even when incredibly nervous, as well keep to time (a very important and often underused skill).

The topic was:

“My approach to supporting an experienced and senior academic begin to apply for Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy”

I have never helped anyone gain Senior Fellowship before; however, I have had many conversations with experienced and senior academics and, while I still have some of the wounds, I believe I've learned a lot from them. As many of you know, I'm a great believer in the power of coaching and think it can be enormously beneficial, so I decided to take this approach and use the GROW model to demonstrate it.

GROW is a coaching model acronym which stands for Goal, Reality, Options and Will.

I talked about how finding out what the Goal was for the academic - why were they trying to achieve SFHEA status? Had they been told to do it? Was it something they knew the value of? If I knew their motivations I would be able to better support them.

I then moved onto Reality. Did they meet the criteria of the UKPSF Framework? The accreditations for the Higher Education Academy are not hierarchical; for example, a highly established researcher may be very eminent in her field but if she doesn't support the teaching of others then she will not meet the criteria for Senior Fellowship and would be better going for Fellowship instead.

Options included how I could support the academic: through different types of workshops, through a mentor programme, through providing templates and so on.

With Will, I discussed investigating the level of motivation and commitment of the academic. Ultimately, the process was up to them and it's important they understand this.

In a bid for extra authenticity, alongside my explanations of how I could enable a person to grow and flourish, I was able to include lots of pictures of gardening, seeds and vegetables (another area of life I'm passionate about). It felt very apt!

My new role will involve much more mentoring and coaching so I am really looking forward to putting this into practice and I hope in future to be able to complete a coaching qualification to cement and add credibility to my work.

The end of Fellowship?

This is the final part of my series of blog posts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

If you’ve already read last week’s post you’ll know that I have completed my FHEA accreditation portfolio. I am very happy about this. Students and other staff may not know or care about it but it is a process I have found valuable and if it is accepted (I find out in February) then I will get a few extra letters after my name.

At the beginning of 2016, I decided to look into what gaining accreditation for my teaching involved. As my confidence had taken a nose-dive after various personal issues, I felt I needed to ‘prove’ myself again.

Rather than repeat everything I’ve done for it, here are a few links to the process I went through:

• Embarking on Fellowship: More reasons as to why I started the process, an outline of the different types of accreditation the Higher Education Academy provides and the various route my institution provides to gain the award.

• I used Pebble-Pad for the first time to collate and submit my portfolio 

• Choosing an FHEA mentor: I was required to have a mentor who was absolutely marvellous. This post covers what traits are required in a mentor and how I chose mine.

• FHEA progress to date: Reflective Assessment Portfolio. I was required to write and collate a portfolio. This post contains information about what that consisted of and a more detailed look at the core knowledge and professional values I needed to demonstrate across the five small and two large case studies, as well as the professional development plan.

• Technologies, peer-assisted learning, FHEA case studies...with a touch of Frost. This post goes into more detail about the two larger case studies submitted in the portfolio. The workshops were observed by academics at my institution, one of whom was my mentor. They offered feedback on improvements and used them to inform the references they provided – another requirement of the accreditation.

While it’s felt like quite a long process, I actually completed it ahead of my deadline by three months. As I took the Open route the deadline is chosen by the participant rather than the institution so there was no need to set this particular time – although it does feel nice to have submitted before Christmas.

So, these are the advantages I've found in doing this:

Technologies, peer-assisted learning, FHEA case studies...with a touch of Frost.

This is part of my series of blog posts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Reader, I submitted my portfolio! My blog posts on this topic have been intermittent but in case you were wondering whether I’d given it up entirely; while the thought did cross my mind, I am a finisher so I’ve been plugging away at it and finally got it all in.

As I was thinking about my case studies at the end of the last blog post, I’ll write about those here and then write one more which sums up the entire process later.

So, as you are aware by now, if you’ve been reading this, there are several roads to accreditation and I took the one less travelled…actually, I took the APEX Open route which is reasonably well worn by academics and professional staff at my institution. This involved, along with all the other bits I’ve previously mentioned, two large case studies. I chose to focus on the use of technology in the workshop for my first one and, for the second, looked at peer-assisted learning.

Case Study One: Poll Everywhere and Twitter

FHEA progress to date: Reflective Assessment Portfolio

This is part of my series of blogposts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

The route I am taking to gain Fellowship is through my work and is called APEX Open. This involves creating an electronic portfolio comprised of the following:

• A 2000 word Reflective Assessment Portfolio (RAP)
• Two 750 word case studies
• A 500 word Professional Development Portfolio (PDP)
• Two teaching observations
•  Two references
•  and a Student Evaluation Summary (SES)

Reflection

Where I am right now

Choosing an FHEA mentor.

This is part of my series of blogposts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

 

As I mentioned in my last blog post on PebblePad, students following the APEX routes to gain accreditation from the Higher Education Academy are strongly encouraged to have a mentor. This person will be the one completing the two classroom observations required in the portfolio and can offer guidance and encouragement throughout the process.

 

 According to those running the course, ideally a mentor is someone:

• whose advice and feedback you will welcome and respond to
• in your own subject area
• who is a fellow or senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• who has attended or will soon attend the Mentoring for APEX workshop

 

They also say that "mentors should be able to help you to develop a subject specific view of the literature on learning and teaching in higher education and to help you locate and understand discipline specific pedagogic literature".

 

 

Image: Perfect Petals.Found on Flickrcc.net.
 This is how I see a mentor - someone who nurtures and helps a person develop and grow

 

In my role as Subject Liaison Librarian I look after Social Sciences, although the makeup of this has altered significantly over the last four years due to a University restructure. Currently, this includes the subjects Anthropology, Sociology and Communications, Games Design, Film and TV, and Journalism.

 

The Sociology division is overhauling its undergraduate programme and I am doing my best to persuade them that subject librarians can help with providing the skills and attributes they require their students to leave University with. I am hoping to teach the vast majority of the first year skills workshops in addition to a social media module which has been mooted. I have chosen a mentor from this division, not only because she is excellent at what she does but also so that I can understand more about what the students in this area needs.

 

We have met once and have decided to aim for submission a year from now, with the allowance of a few extra spring/summer months as contingency in case life throws any more curveballs at me...

PebblePad - ing my way to Fellowship

 

This is the second in a  series of blogposts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

 

The route I am taking to gain Fellowship is through my work and is called APEX Open. This involves creating an electronic portfolio comprised of the following:

• A 2000 word Reflective Assessment Portfolio (RAP)
• Two 750 word case studies
• A 500 word Professional Development Portfolio (PDP)
• Two teaching observations
• Two references
• and a Student Evaluation Summary (SES)

We will be using a web-based portfolio system called PebblePad, which will be accessed through Blackboard, the University's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This tends to be used by cohorts who need to produce evidence of a journey and is used mainly by Education students and those completing the APEX courses. The last time I had to do anything like this was for my CILIP Chartership portfolio in 2012 and at the time they still had a paper system. I did have a brief foray into Mahara in a previous job but since then I have never had to use any sort of electronic portfolio system. It does look a little fiddly but with a little playing around with it does get easier.

 

One of the advantages of using an electronic portfolio like this is that it can easily be shared with mentors. Participants in APEX are strongly recommended to have a mentor (more of which in my next post), although it isn't required in order to be validated directly by the HEA. My mentor for Chartership had to rely on what I was saying to them and only briefly saw my portfolio once it was about to be submitted, whereas with this my mentor will be able to view it as I go along. This means they will be able to view it in advance of meetings so hopefully they will be more productive.

 

One of the best bits about PebblePad I have discovered so far is that the front page is customisable. I have set mine in a wood; I love walking in them whenever I get the opportunity as they clear my head and make me feel calm. it's the first thing I see when I log in so I'm hoping it will help put me in the right frame of mind to fill it in!

Embarking on Fellowship

"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard" -   J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

As mentioned previously in my 2015 Reflection blog post, I am beginning the process of gaining FHEA accreditation. This means I would become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). I have been teaching in the academic sector for almost six years and I want this to be recognised, especially as it is becoming a prerequisite for many jobs. It means I would be on an equal footing when discussing teaching and learning with my academic colleagues.and, although it is not currently mentioned, there's always the possibility it could be one of the criteria for the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in future.

I do have a PTTLS teaching qualification but this is different in that it is not teaching you how to teach but is recognition that you teach at a standard that befits the Higher Education Academy. It is very similar in practice to other professional bodies who want a Masters, professional work experience and a portfolio before providing professional recognition. The portfolio process is very similar to that of CILIP Chartership, for those who have done that.

A seal of approval ;) Found on Flickrcc.net

I'm going to be blogging my progress of working towards the accreditation mainly for my own reflective purposes, but also for anyone else who might be considering doing it and wonders what it is like.

The HEA describes itself as 'the national body which champions teaching quality'. It provides a 'benchmark for standards' called the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) and it is made up of four categories designed to match a person's level of knowledge and teaching experience within Higher Education.

• Associate Fellow (AFHEA) - for those who don't teach much but do support students
• Fellow (FHEA) - for those who teach, on average, about six hours a week
• Senior Fellow (SFHEA) - for those who impact on students' learning through management of teaching teams
• Principal Fellow (PFHEA) - for those with substantial strategic responsibilities for teaching within higher education

There are several ways to gain accreditation:

You can apply directly to the HEA by completing an essay based on your professional practice, paying a fee, and including two references. Or, you can follow a route set by an accredited institution - which is what I am going to do.

My workplace is an accredited institution and it has a route called the Academic Practice and Professional Excellence Framework (APEX), which has several strands to choose from:

• APEX 1 - a one year programme for research postgraduates with a significant and ongoing teaching commitment. Participants are required to attend compulsory workshops and create a portfolio of evidence, including reflections on practice; reports on teaching observations; a case study; and a development plan. 
• APEX 2 - a two year programme for probationary academic staff who attend compulsory workshops and are required to produce a portfolio of evidence.
• APEX Open - for those who already contribute to learning and teaching - there is no set time-frame for this route; no compulsory workshops; and the same portfolio of evidence is required.

The APEX Open route to Fellow is the one most suitable to my experience and what I currently do so this is the one I have chosen and will be writing about. I have had my induction which broadly explained the purpose of APEX and the HEA. There weren't many attendees as new staff will choose APEX 2 and others already have the qualifications - we were told there are already 66,366 total UK fellows at September 2015, so I will be joining a very large cohort.

I have high hopes for this programme. I found that CILIP Chartership, and subsequent revalidations, helped me to raise my game and to continue with professional development in all the right areas, not just the ones I find easy. I trust that this, alongside recognising my current practice, will do the same.

Every time I think about Fellowship, I think of Tolkein's. The quote at the top seems fitting as I'm at the beginning of this journey (and I still remember what Chartership was like) but I've gone through a heck of a lot worse than creating a portfolio so I'm sure it won't be that bad!

2015: Reflections and the year ahead

Well, what a difference a year makes. Looking back at my 2014 blogpost, I find it hard to believe I packed so much in while spending most of the year pregnant.

2015 was very different. It started off with me being almost two weeks overdue, followed by an emergency caesarean, my baby being treated for neonatal meningitis and me struggling to walk - in a hospital miles away from home for twelve days. It was a frightening, stressful and lonely experience.

F had dreadful reflux for seven months which meant no naps in the day at all and barely anything at night for either of us. We now generally average about three hours a night sleep, sometimes four, which is a vast improvement on how it used to be. There was a whole week in July where I got six hours every night - bliss!

I returned to work full time when he was almost seven months old and my husband now looks after him during the day, alongside his own evening & weekend job. Returning to work has been like starting a brand new job again, but with the expectation that you can easily pick up where you left off - alongside trying to find rooms suitable to express in and meeting tight deadlines fuelled only by willpower and chocolate.

In addition, I was trying to remember how to drive again (I'd barely had chance to practise since passing), as well as trying to remember everyone's names which suddenly seemed to have escaped me.

Needless to say, something had to give and I crashed my car, although luckily the only real injury was to my bank balance.

I had very few goals last year and they mainly consisted of submitting my Chartership Revalidation for 2014-15 and continuing with yoga.  I completed the first and doing the latter really helped save my sanity. I intend to continue as much as I can with this, even if it's just once a week.

There will be no more volunteering to be on committees for a while - I've spent the last five years on them for various professional organisations and I no longer have that much time to give. The same applies to long conferences - it will be day length and commutable for a little while longer. Professional development and involvement will increasingly have to take place from a PC, a couch or both!

This year, I've applied to start the process to gain FHEA accreditation and I'm looking forward to speaking to new Library and Information Studies students at UCL in March as part of their Management module. I'm still interested in the coaching and mentoring I've mentioned in previous posts but this will have to wait a little longer until I have more capacity. In the meantime,  I'm anticipating introducing my little one to lots more stories - he's already an avid user of our local library and received LOTS of books for Christmas.

Ultimately, I'll be glad to see the end of 2015 and have tentative hopes that 2016 will be less chaotic.

Happy New Year!