Senior lecturers Sandra Sinfield and Tom Burns receive award as part of the #creativeHE team
Date: 04 August 2022
A project co-led by senior lecturers from London Metropolitan University’s Centre for Professional and Educational Development (CPED) is one of only 16 initiatives in the country to be awarded a prestigious Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE), Advance HE announced today.
Sandra Sinfield and Tom Burns are part of the award-winning #creativeHE team, an open collaborative community for creative and innovative practitioners open to anybody who is interested in exploring creativity in learning and teaching within and beyond the UK.
The CATE scheme is open to all Higher Education Providers (HEPs) who are members of Advance HE, across the four nations of the UK, including Further Education Colleges and independent ‘alternative’ providers. Each UK HEP is invited to nominate one team that can clearly demonstrate having an impact on teaching and learning through collaboration.
Professor Digby Warren, Head of CPED at London Metropolitan University, said: “We are proud to be part of the #creativeHE community and would like to thank and congratulate Sandra Sinfield and Tom Burns for their key role in this community and in stimulating creative learning and development opportunities for our staff and students. Together with our #creativeHE partners, we will continue to support this dynamic community to continue to develop inspiring creative, collaborative approaches within our institution and in the wider HE sector, both nationally and internationally.”
Advance HE is a member-led, sector-owned charity that works with institutions and higher education across the world to improve higher education for staff, students and society.
Alison Johns, Chief Executive of Advance HE said “Congratulations to each and every new National Teaching Fellow (NTF) and CATE team on this fantastic achievement.
“At Advance HE, we run the prestigious NTF and CATE awards for the UK higher education sector with enormous pride. The challenges of offering an outstanding teaching experience in recent years have been very demanding, but the sector has risen to the challenge.”
International community of practice
As a highly dynamic, artful and sustaining international community of practice, #creativeHE is an impactful catalyst for creative pedagogical innovation, staff development, research and scholarship in Higher Education (HE). The active involvement of 11 organisations within the team is testament to the reach and reputation for excellence of the #creativeHE initiative. As of July 2022, the online community has over 650 members, whilst over 1200 staff and students from over 170 institutions across 17 countries have engaged with community events and open activities demonstrating their truly international identity. Receiving this prestigious award for collaborative teaching excellence justifiably recognises the work of all involved in various institutions, both nationally and internationally.
Partnership in creative innovations
COVID-19 has demonstrated the need for reimagining HE - to rethink the way we teach, think, act and research in creative ways to address the enormous challenges for institutions, their leaders and practitioners, in line with our commitment at London Met to Education for Social Justice. The prolific, stimulating and imaginative publications and the exciting range of activities organised by #creativeHE, including an annual “Jam”, offer national and international vision, inspiring large numbers of participants to showcase, generate and share their practice and innovations with the wider academic community. In its values and actions #creativeHE embodies the spirit of academic/student partnership by creating spaces to foster collaboration and co-construction, an approach central to the partnership approach to teaching and learning valued at London Met.
The impact of #creativeHE within London Met is palpable and powerful. It is evident in a number of ways, including:
- the embracing and dissemination of creative, emancipatory pedagogies via our academic professional development programmes;
- the embedding of creative approaches within mainstream modules, as well as from the wealth of resources and online courses/events offered by #creativeHE;
- and the production of guidelines, articles, chapters and books co/authored by the staff members directly involved in #creativeHE.
Through sharing, innovating and developing creative practices, the community has demonstrated real impact for HE educationalists, students and the wider community.
How to get involved
If you would like to be involved in #creativeHE, please note that everybody is welcome to join this embracing community, staff, students in Higher Education, Further Education, and the wider public. You will find an oasis for exploration and experimentation and connect with like-minded individuals from different institutions and parts of the world to celebrate creativity and resourcefulness in learning and teaching. Please check out the #creativeHE website to discover our exciting resources and wide range of activities continuously advertised there.
