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2
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Mining your Advance HE application for skills
“You are adaptable and have more skills than you realise.”
Dr Bryony Parsons / Former postdoc, Learning Developer, University of Liverpool Library.
Relating your skills as a researcher to teaching and supporting learning and to professional recognition
As a postdoc you may well be involved in demonstrating in practical classes, supervising undergraduate or postgraduate students or marking and providing feedback on assessments.
This experience in teaching and supporting learning can be used to gain professional recognition with Advance HE by aligning your practice to the Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education 2023 (PSF 2023) which is a globally-recognised framework for benchmarking success within HE teaching and learning.
In particular, you may be eligible to apply for Associate Fellow (AFHEA) or Fellow (FHEA), depending on the extent of your practice with students. If you are currently working at a UK based university it is likely that it offers these qualifications.
How does the Professional Standards Framework (2023) relate to your skills as a researcher?
The Professional Standards Framework identifies fifteen Dimensions which indicate what professionals do to enable high-quality teaching and/or support of learning in higher education. They are arranged as three related sets of:
- five Professional Values (the foundations of professional practice);
- five forms of Core Knowledge (the multiple and diverse forms of knowledge required to undertake the Areas of Activity);
- five Areas of Activity (the essential activities that support delivery of effective practice).
The skills audit page identifies a number of skills of direct relevance to the fifteen Dimensions. In particular, your role as a demonstrator, supervisor or marker may involve the following:
- Manage a project, or projects from start to end;
- Develop organising principles for processing, sorting, and managing data;
- Prioritise appropriately and anticipate risks;
- Identify goals and a realistic time to complete them;
- Effectively communicate complex information to different audiences using accessible language;
- Facilitate a group discussion or meeting;
- Teach methods, skills, or theory to others;
- Motivate others to complete tasks or projects.
If you already have Associate Fellowship (AFHEA) or Fellowship (FHEA)?
Depending on when you gained your Fellowship the application or programme you completed may have been aligned to either the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education (2011) (UKPSF 2011) or the Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education 2023. There are differences between the two frameworks and so it is worth checking. In particular, the PSF 2023 has a focus on “collaborating with others to
enhance practice”.
Regardless of the version of the Professional Standards Framework, you can identify adaptable skills by referring back to your application. For example:
V1 refers to your respect for individual and diverse groups of students. It can demonstrate your ability to:
- work well with others from a variety of backgrounds
- adapt your approach according to your audience
K2 refers to the methods you use to teach, support or assess learning in your subject. It can demonstrate your ability to:
- ensure that your approach is evidence-based
- communicate appropriately to different audiences
A5 refers to your engagement in continuing professional development. It can demonstrate your ability to:
- take onboard feedback
- develop through reflective practice
Mapping transferable skills against the PSF 2023 Dimensions
ResearchComp, The European Competence Framework for Researchers, is a tool to assess and develop researchers' transferable skills and foster career development. It is arranged in 7 competence areas (cognitive abilities, doing research, managing research, managing research tools, making an impact, working with others, self-management) and identifies 38 competences within those areas.
Here we provide a sample mapping of the fifteen PSF 2023 Dimensions against this framework.
| Dimension | Competence(s) |
| V1 Respect individual learners and diverse groups of learners | 1. Working with others: Ensure wellbeing at work 2. Working with others: Promote inclusion and diversity |
| V2 Promote engagement in learning and equity of opportunity for all to reach their potential | 1. Working with others: Ensure wellbeing at work 2. Working with others: Promote inclusion and diversity |
| V3 Use scholarship, or research, or professional learning, or other evidence-informed approaches as a basis for effective practice | 1. Making an impact: Participate in the publication process 2. Doing research: Have disciplinary expertise 3. Managing research: Evaluate research |
| V4 Respond to the wider context in which HE operates, recognising implications for practice | 1. Doing research: Apply research ethics and integrity principles 2. Making an impact: Teach in academic or vocational contexts 3. Making an impact: Disseminate results to the research community 4. Making an impact: Communicate to the broad public Increase impact of science on policy & society 5. Making an impact: Promote the transfer of knowledge 6. Managing research tools: Promote citizen science 7. Cognitive abilities: Strategic thinking |
| V5 Collaborate with others to enhance practice | 1. Working with others: Interact professionally 2. Working with others: Develop networks 3. Working with others: Work in teams 4. Working with others: Ensure wellbeing at work |
| Dimension | Competence(s) |
| K1 How learners learn, generally and within specific subjects | 1. Making an impact: Teach in academic or vocational contexts 2. Doing research: Apply research ethics and integrity principles 3. Making an impact: Promote the transfer of knowledge 4. Doing research: Have disciplinary expertise 5. Doing research: Perform scientific research 6. Working with others: Build mentor-mentee relationships |
| K2 Approaches to teaching and/or supporting learning, appropriate for subjects and level of study | 1. Making an impact: Teach in academic or vocational contexts 2. Doing research: Have disciplinary expertise 3. Working with others: Build mentor-mentee relationships 4. Cognitive abilities: Creativity |
| K3 Critical evaluation as a basis for effective practice | 1. Managing research: Evaluate research 2. Managing research tools: Manage research data 3. Managing research tools: Manage intellectual property rights 4. Cognitive abilities: Critical thinking 5. Cognitive abilities: Analytical thinking |
| K4 Appropriate use of digital and/or other technologies, and resources for learning | 1. Managing research tools: Operate open source software 2. Managing research: Mobilise resources 3. Doing research: Perform scientific research |
| K5 Requirements for quality assurance and enhancement and their Implications for practice | 1. Doing research: Apply research ethics and integrity principles 2. Managing research: Promote open access publications 3. Making an impact: Promote open innovation 4. Making an impact: Promote the transfer of knowledge 5. Managing research: Evaluate research 6. Doing research: Perform scientific research 7. Cognitive abilities: Strategic thinking |
| Dimension | Competence(s) |
| A1 Design and plan learning activities and programmes | 1. Making an impact: Teach in academic or vocational contexts 2. Managing research: Manage projects 3. Managing research: Negotiate 4. Doing research: Have disciplinary expertise 5. Doing research: Perform scientific research 6. Doing research: Write research documents 7. Cognitive abilities: Systemic thinking 8. Cognitive abilities: Strategic thinking 9. Cognitive abilities: Problem solving |
| A2 Teach and/or support learning through appropriate approaches and environments | 1. Making an impact: Teach in academic or vocational contexts 2. Managing research: Manage projects 3. Working with others: Build mentor-mentee relationships 4. Working with others: Interact professionally 5. Cognitive abilities: Creativity |
| A3 Assess and give feedback for learning | 1. Managing research: Evaluate research 2. Managing research: Negotiate 3. Cognitive abilities: Problem solving |
| A4 Support and guide learners | 1. Working with others: Build mentor-mentee relationships 2. Working with others: Ensure wellbeing at work 3. Working with others: Interact professionally 3. Doing research: Apply research ethics and integrity principles |
| A5 Enhance practice through own continuing professional development | 1. Self-management: Manage personal professional development 2. Self-management: Plan self-organisation 3. Making an impact: Disseminate results to the research community 4. Making an impact: Increase impact of science on policy & society |
References
ResearchComp, The European Competence Framework for Researchers
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