Exeter lecturers awarded for excellent teaching

A total of 55 lecturers and learning support staff were chosen from over 180 nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Each will receive an award of £10,000 which may be used for Fellows’ professional development in teaching and learning.

Dr Richard Winsley oversees the educational provision of one of the consistently top ranked Sport and Health Sciences departments in the country. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he is responsible for ensuring the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes that are innovative, stimulating and contemporary.

Dr Winsley’s career as a clinical exercise physiologist in the NHS helped shape his educational practice to become an effective educator to a range of audiences. He now brings this applied experience to his teaching of his popular module, clinical exercise prescription, in which students learn both about the theory and experience the reality of working with these groups of people.

Dr Winsley was voted Lecturer of the Year 2010 in the Student’s Guild Teaching Awards with nominations of support including: “Winsley doesn't just teach, he inspires! As a student you want to learn from the best and his combination of incredible knowledge, positive attitude and caring nature bring all the greatest attributes of an educator to this embodiment of teaching greatness!”

Dr Richard Winsley said: “I bring a student-centred approach to all my work: not just teaching but also in ensuring students are partners in helping shape their educational experience. It is vital to actively engage students in the way the University is run and in providing peer mentoring and teaching. It is a real privilege to have been recognised through these prestigious awards.”

Based in Clinical Training (CEDAR) at the University, Dr Paul Farrand specialises in clinical education and training in evidence-based psychological interventions. Passionate about teaching and learning with a commitment to ensuring the highest standards, Dr Farrand seeks to maximise the student experience while guaranteeing patients seeking treatment for mental health problems receive the best evidence-based psychological treatments possible. To achieve this he is not only involved in the development and delivery across a range of Clinical Psychology training programmes, but has operated at a national level with the Department of Health education, training and accreditation committees and chairs related committees within the British Psychological Society (BPS) and British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.  

At the University of Exeter, Dr Farrand has been central to developments regarding the expansion of the clinical training portfolio in Psychology. He is committed to developing high quality innovative programmes that improve access to training among practicing health and medical professionals, and his most recent development has been the BSc Applied Psychology (Clinical), which is the first programme of its kind nationally to be dually accredited, leading to Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the BPS, and for the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner training component.

Dr Paul Farrand said: “It is a great honour to be made a National Teaching Fellow. I am committed to bringing together my teaching and research, which focuses on developing and evaluating low intensity cognitive behavioural interventions for depression. It is vital that the students I work with are fully-prepared for working in this challenging environment and I aim to ensure the very latest developments in my field of research are incorporated into their training and education.”

The scheme is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland, and is open to staff whose roles support the student learning experience at institutions in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Successful nominees were backed by their institutions and submissions had to show evidence of three criteria: individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence, and developing excellence.

Professor Craig Mahoney, Chief Executive of the HEA, said the awards carry considerable prestige within the sector and are highly competitive. He added: “The 55 new Fellows created this year have all made a highly valuable contribution to learning and teaching within their institutions and often more widely. At the HEA we are committed to recognising and rewarding excellence in teaching. Students deserve - and expect - the best possible learning experience during their time in higher education, and fantastic staff such as National Teaching Fellows help to deliver this experience. I am extremely proud of the HEA in delivering this programme and I congratulate all successful recipients."

Along with the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme, the HEA’s work in teacher excellence includes the accreditation of institution's professional development programmes and individual recognition for staff who meet the criteria of the UK Professional Standards Framework.

The new National Teaching Fellows will officially receive their awards at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 10 October 2012.