The network of Communities of Practice (CoPs) was formed following a University wide conversation to discuss how best to promote and develop the university’s learning and teaching strategy.
Our university strongly believes in a vibrant culture of learning and teaching (L and T) collaboration to foster creativity, innovation for enhanced learner experience and to be an important contribution to staff professional development. We have successfully achieved “excellence” through embedding a network of Communities of Practice to enable our academics to engage in inter-subject, school and cross-institutional learning and teaching conversation.
These Communities were formed for staff to collaborate in ten key areas. Please see the Communities of Practice Diagram which illustrates the ten areas and the CoPs which sit under them.
The L and T office is responsible for scheduling CoP, managing the CoP calendar, processing new applications through a formal procedure, and capturing outcomes and disseminating good practice.
Please see the CoP schedule for the upcoming academic year. Please note this is updated regularly as sessions are organised. Further information and Zoom details can be found linked to each session title.
2023/24 Schedule:
Internationalisation CoP
Tuesday 28th May 2024
12pm - 1pm (via Zoom)
Theme: Challenges of hosting international students
Zoom: https://hope.zoom.us/my/manelherat?omn=88111125111
Early Career Teachers CoP Thursday 30 May 3pm - 4pm (EDEN 045)
Title: Early Career Teacher Identities with Dr Jody Crutchley, Prof Namrata Rao and Dr Zaki Nahaboo (Birmingham City University)
This CoP meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the experiences and identities of Early Career Teachers [ECTs] in Higher Education. In the session, case studies of experiences of Early Career Teachers from higher education institutions from America, Asia, Australia, and Europe will be shared. We will explore the challenges they faced and the opportunities they were offered when entering a dynamic tertiary education sector as new teachers. The session intends to spotlight contemporary issues, such as precarity, casualisation, fragmentation of academic responsibilities and intersectionality, that shape contemporary ECT workloads. It therefore contributes to our understanding of Higher Education in practice through a focus on this important group of academics, who—with a disproportionate involvement in teaching and learning activities—will continue to shape the sector for years to come. The session builds on the work undertaken for an edited book entitled, Early Career Teachers in Higher Education: Academics’ International Teaching Journeys, published by Bloomsbury.
