Applications open for the 2023/24 Technical Teaching Fellowships

Applications are now open for the 2023/24 Technical Teaching Fellowships. The Fellowships are open to exceptional technical teachers in the FE and Training sector and are awarded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) in partnership with the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, following a rigorous selection process.

Fellows are recognised as outstanding practitioners, with high-impact teaching practice, who deliver effective outcomes for their learners. The Fellows play an important role in driving quality improvement in FE technical teaching and training, facilitating CPD for sector colleagues and sharing effective practice, resources and ideas, and enabling others through knowledge transfer activities.

Successful proposals are characterised by:

1. Demonstrating highly-effective approaches to improving teaching and learning in technical education, with the potential to help other teachers to teach better.
2. Promoting the professional standards of the FE sector and the professional standards of the workplace.
3. Demonstrating how applicants will use this opportunity to become a positive national role model and inspire others to emulate their practice.
4. Planning and delivering professional development opportunities which will share effective practice in technical teaching and impact positively upon the pedagogy of other teachers.
5. Maximising reach, engagement and impact by raising the profile of the Technical Teaching Fellowship programme and involving employers, professional associations, learned societies, skills groups or other partners to support and extend activity and practice.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 25 November 2022.

On being awarded a Fellowship, successful applicants will:

• Receive an award of £5,000 – £15,000 to support knowledge transfer activity and to ensure remission time is guaranteed (awards will be payable to employing organisation, but funding must be clearly allocated to enable Technical Teaching Fellows to carry out their agreed activities).
• Develop ‘Pathways to Impact’ activity action plans, to maximise the benefit of their Technical Teaching Fellowships.
• Attend two one-day developmental workshops over the academic cycle 2023/2024.
• Be allocated a programme mentor to support them for the duration of the programme.
• Be expected to disseminate their work at national conferences in January and July 2024 and via regional networks.
• Contribute to the delivery of a final report, written to engage and motivate technical education in their area of practice.

The awardees will also be made Fellows of the Society for Education and Training (SET) and will be awarded a year’s free membership.

The Technical Teaching Fellowship programme, which was launched in June 2018, exists to celebrate, develop and disseminate exceptional practice in technical teaching. The scheme is designed to support and empower the industrial and technical expertise of individuals who support the progression of learners to higher levels of technical STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) study and employment.

The first Fellowships were awarded to James Maltby (Plumpton College) and Stephen Mariadas (Exeter College) in January 2019. In 2020, a further four were awarded to Dr Lynda Broomhead (Petroc College), Chris Fairclough (Lakes College, National College for Nuclear), Shell Fearn (North Hertfordshire College) and Nicholas Hart (Sheffield College). In January 2021 the 2021/22 Fellows were announced as Ben Houlihan (Bridgwater and Taunton College), Peter Jackson (Lincoln College) and Rosa Wells (Solihull College and University Centre). In January the 2022/23 Fellows were announced, Adam Hackney (Exeter College), Alison Ackroyd (MidKent College) and Simon Parker (South Essex College).

You can find out more about what Fellowship entails by listening to James’ , Stephen’s, Chris and Lynda’s accounts of their activity and its impact. Cerian Ayres, the ETF’s National Head of Technical Education, wrote about why technical teachers should consider applying in a blog, In technical teaching, Fellows are leaders.

Further details and the application form are available on the Technical Teaching Fellowships programme page of the ETF website. Potential applicants can also contact Cerian to find out more.

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