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The SHINE scheme provides an experience-based route to professional recognition of learning and teaching for both early career staff and those who are experienced teachers. It is open to full/part time members of staff at St George’s University of London (SGUL) and honorary fellows who are involved in teaching and/or supporting the learning of St George’s students. According to Advance HE’s institutional subscription rules, honorary fellows will have to make a fee to Advance HE for the submission of their application via SHINE.
The scheme is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education (UKPSF) which is the nationally recognised framework for benchmarking success in higher education teaching and learning support. You are welcome to apply for professional recognition of learning and teaching via SHINE if you are involved in teaching and supporting learning across a range of roles and responsibilities, including:
- research and teaching roles
- teaching only profiles
- professional practice-based teaching and assessment roles
- laboratory-based teaching responsibilities
- library services
- learning technologists
If you are on probation or new to teaching in higher education and your role has a substantive teaching component, the taught route for Fellowship via the PgCert in Healthcare and Biomedical Education may be more appropriate. Find out more about this route and apply.
To make a claim for professional recognition via SHINE you should:
Link to Canvas resources will be sent to you when you have registered on the programme.
Which Fellowship category is right for you will depend on your experience in teaching/supporting and leading educational work in higher education. To identify the appropriate Fellowship category for individual applicants, they will need to develop a sound understanding of the UKPSF. To help with this, the applicants must engage with the self-learning Canvas resources on Unit 1: The UK Professional Standards Framework.
Once you have identified the category of Fellowship that is suitable for you, the next step is to register for the relevant ‘Getting started with your SHINE application’ workshop. If you need support to identify the right category of Fellowship for you, please get in touch with the SHINE scheme director: shine@sgul.sc.uk
- Book a place to attend a ‘Getting started with your SHINE application’ Workshop at an appropriate category of Fellowship. For all other workshop dates, please follow these links for Associate Fellow and Fellow or Senior Fellow.
- Decide on a submission date of your application. Submission dates can be found here.
- Work with an allocated SHINE mentor to audit your experience and develop an action plan for making an application for professional recognition. Information about how to work with your mentor can be found in the Initial Guidance for Participants 2021-22 (p.11).
- Participate in other appropriate programmes of professional development activities, including Peer Observation and Review of Teaching (PORT) to further develop your teaching skills.
- Attend a ‘SHINE writing retreat’ for further support in developing your application. Book a place on a ‘writing retreat’ here: Associate Fellow and Fellow or Senior Fellow
- Approach 2 colleagues who will act as your referees and provide you with supporting statements. Guidance for referees and relevant forms can be found on Canvas ‘Guides and Forms’ section
- Send a draft of your completed application to your mentor and work on the feedback you receive
- Submit your application with 2 supporting statements to: shine@sgul.ac.uk
Your submission will be assessed by the SHINE Review Panel and you will receive the outcome of your submission within 2 weeks of the SHINE Review Panel to which you have submitted your application.
The UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) provides a general description of the main Dimensions of the roles of teaching and supporting learning, outlining a national framework for recognising and benchmarking teaching and learning support roles within higher education. Written from the perspective of the practitioner, it provides a conceptual framework to help enhance scholarly approaches to teaching and learning. The framework outlines the Dimensions of Professional Practice in higher education teaching and learning support as:
- areas of activity undertaken by higher education professionals who involve in teaching/supporting learning
- core knowledge needed to carry out those activities at the appropriate level
- professional values that individuals who perform these activities should demonstrate
The UKPSF provides a framework that guides you to write a personalised, reflective account of your experience in teaching and supporting learning and continuing professional development in your professional practice. The framework does not present a strict set of performance criteria. It offers a flexible and adaptable tool to engage in a range of educational development activities in ways that suit your teaching and learning context.
You can download a copy of the UKPSF and explore the key components of the Framework.
Fellowships are awarded on the basis of your ability to successfully and effectively demonstrate your engagement with one of the four UKPSF Descriptors. In deciding which category of Fellowship to apply for, you will need to identify which of the four Descriptors of the UKPSF is most appropriate to your practice as a higher education professional.
The Advance HE/HEA awards four different categories of Fellowship:
Associate Fellow
Associate Fellowship is appropriate if you are involved only in certain aspects of teaching or assessing or supporting learning, for example, staff who support academic provision or researchers with limited teaching activities. You may not necessarily be involved in assessing and giving feedback to students.
Fellow
Fellowship is appropriate if you have three years of experience in teaching/supporting learning in higher education and are involved in a full range of teaching and assessment activities that contribute to student learning. If you are new to teaching in higher education, the PgCert in Healthcare and Biomedical Education is likely to be a more appropriate taught route to Fellowship.
Senior Fellow
Senior Fellowship is appropriate if you are an experienced educator with at least three years of experience in teaching and leading educational work within the higher education context and have a sustained record of effectiveness across a range of activities. For Senior Fellowship, in addition to evidencing your commitment to teaching and learning, you also should be able to evidence impact and influence through the coordination, supervision, management or mentoring of other colleagues in relation to developing their teaching and learning.
Principal Fellow
Principal Fellowship is suitable for highly experienced professionals, who can evidence a sustained and effective record of impact at a strategic level in relation to teaching and learning. Staff who are responsible for institutional strategic leadership and policy-making in the area of teaching and learning and who can evidence their strategic impact institutionally, nationally or internationally can apply for Principal Fellowship.
The accreditation of the SHINE Programme covers three categories of Fellowship: Associate Fellow; Fellow; and Senior Fellow. Colleagues who are interested in applying for Principal Fellowship will be supported to make a direct application to Advance HE. For further information, please contact: shine@sgul.ac.uk