I began my teaching career in 2008 in further education (FE), where I held roles such as Music Coordinator, Work Experience Coordinator, and Learning and Skills Lead for the Performing Arts Department at an FE college. In 2019, I transitioned into higher education (HE) teaching, becoming a Level 4 Performance Lecturer. I now hold the position of Learning Development Tutor at Bishop Grosseteste University, where I support students in developing their academic literacies and learning skills. Outside of HE, I am also a singing teacher and holistic healer, trained in sound healing and Reiki, adding an element of wellbeing to my work.
In 2021, I began my role as a Learning Development Tutor at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU). Despite 13 years of experience in Further Education, I felt a momentary wave of imposter syndrome wash over me and I remember frantically purchasing Hartley et al.’s (2011) Learning Development in Higher Education to plug any gaps in my knowledge. It wasn’t long until I fell into familiar patterns of teaching and learning, delivering workshops to demystify essential study skills and supporting learners’ transitions into Higher Education (HE) by fostering their wellbeing and embedding self-directed learning practices.
I was introduced to ALDinHE shortly after I arrived at BGU and I quickly familiarised myself with their Resource Banks to inspire content creation for academic practice workshops. These materials became instrumental in the redesign of our team’s Learning Development Blackboard course, which now serves as a one-stop-shop for our learners’ academic needs, featuring step-by-step guides and videos on developing academic literacies. Through this process, I was also made aware of the Certified Practitioner (CeP) status, although I acknowledged the importance of accumulating a solid foundation of experience before applying.
During the last four academic years, I have worked with our community of learners from Foundation to Level 8 and teaching staff across all subject areas and disciplines. I have had the pleasure of supporting our university’s widening participation and outreach programmes with local schools and colleges and have even gained Fellowship of Advance HE, qualified as a Mental Health First Aid, and delivered wellbeing classes across our campus. Most importantly, this year I finally applied for and achieved my CeP through ALDinHE!
CeP requires practitioners to critically reflect on their Learning Development values, beliefs, and experiences. ALDinHE made the process easy to navigate, with clear instructions on completing the application and written examples to demonstrate good practice. I also had the opportunity to network with current CePs to seek their advice regarding my application ideas. Naively, I always believe reflective writing is a simple process. How could writing about myself be difficult? However, my CeP process taught me that practitioners often take for granted the skills they have acquired or their positive impact on learners. This became apparent after my first CeP submission when I was prompted to provide additional details regarding my support of BGU staff and the outcomes of these interactions. Fortunately, it allowed me to recall valuable experiences, becoming a full-circle experience wherein I immersed myself in the resources I’d developed on reflective writing to enhance my submission. I now have the honour of donning the CeP logo!
I highly recommend the CeP experience to educators looking to reflect on and refine strategies for future professional practice. It was both enjoyable and rewarding to acknowledge how far I have come as a practitioner.