• Professor Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaology and Pedagogy and Associate Director for eLearning and Teaching Innovation, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

This year the University has introduced the category of Scholarship into promotions criteria for colleagues on a Teaching and Scholarship (T&S) contract, and the ITL is offering a series of workshops about how you might do scholarship in your context. But, whether you are applying for promotion, for teaching awards, or just need to explain to someone what you do, it is also helpful to be able to tell your own T&S story - or what some may refer to as a “golden thread” – that is, a clear (and usually succinct) way of articulating the big picture of what your scholarship does and what difference it makes. But this is a tricky task! And often even harder to do alone! So, in this session, we lead and support participants to begin to tell their story and draw out their golden thread. Beginning with a short consideration of what scholarship is, participants will then explore their teaching philosophy, draw out key contributions they have made to teaching and/or scholarship, and work with peers to begin to refine their story and draw out their golden thread.

This workshop is open to anyone who wants to refine how they talk about their teaching, their scholarship, or both. It is open to anyone who teaches, not just those on T&S contracts, and will be valuable whatever stage in your career and your teaching and/or scholarship journey you are. It will take place face to face and colleagues should come prepared to talk about what they do and to listen to one another. By the end of the workshop participants will have an understanding of how scholarship is defined at the University of Manchester, they will have built a clear articulation of their teaching philosophy, have identified some key contributions they make in teaching and scholarship and have a draft golden thread or summary of their T&S story.

Book to attend 'Telling your Teaching and Scholarship Story'

• Professor Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaology and Pedagogy and Associate Director for eLearning and Teaching Innovation, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
• Jenni Rose Senior Fellow HEA

‘Reclaim your focus and deepen your scholarship with a dedicated day of slow academic research. Step away from the demands of teaching and administration to immerse yourself in your intellectual pursuits. This focused time provides space for deep reading, reflective writing, and the unhurried exploration of your research questions. Reinvigorate your passion for your discipline and cultivate the foundations for impactful teaching and scholarship. Join us for a day to nurture your academic heart.’  

Book to attend 'Slow Scholarship Day'

• Professor Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaology and Pedagogy and Associate Director for eLearning and Teaching Innovation, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

This year the University has introduced the category of Scholarship into promotions criteria for colleagues on a Teaching and Scholarship (T&S) contract, and the ITL is offering a series of workshops about how you might do scholarship in your context. But, whether you are applying for promotion, for teaching awards, or just need to explain to someone what you do, it is also helpful to be able to tell your own T&S story - or what some may refer to as a “golden thread” – that is, a clear (and usually succinct) way of articulating the big picture of what your scholarship does and what difference it makes. But this is a tricky task! And often even harder to do alone! So, in this session, we lead and support participants to begin to tell their story and draw out their golden thread. Beginning with a short consideration of what scholarship is, participants will then explore their teaching philosophy, draw out key contributions they have made to teaching and/or scholarship, and work with peers to begin to refine their story and draw out their golden thread.

Whether you are new to scholarship or have been doing it for some time, being able to articulate your scholarship to others is an important skill, but one that can take practice and time to refine. Speed SoTL sessions offer the opportunity to hone this skill.

Participants will be paired with another person in the room and given a short time for each in the pair to discuss their scholarship. After a given time participants will rotate, finding new partners and starting again. Repeating this process a few times should have the benefit of not only helping you to refine your own scholarship narrative, but also to learn about the work of others. Whether you are just beginning scholarship or have been doing it for some time, this session should be helpful to all. Participants should come ready to discuss and talk about their work in this highly interactive session.    

Book to attend 'Speed SOTL'

• Dr James Brooks PFHEA, University Lead (Teaching Excellence and Quality)

• Emma Sanders SFHEA, Teaching and Learning Officer (Teaching Excellence team)

This online session offers an opportunity for colleagues to find out more about the University’s Teaching Excellence Awards, in advance of the submission deadline on Monday 02 June 2025.

Academic, Professional Services, Technical and Lab-based colleagues are eligible for the award, and nominations may be made by – or on behalf of - individuals or teams. Key elements of the award are outlined, such as the nomination process, the core criteria and the strategic themes. In addition, previous winners share their experiences and be available to answer any questions.

• Click here to sign up for How to Reflect

• Dr Elaine Clark, Senior Lecturer AMBS

Book to attend 'Fostering Student Mental Wellbeing'

Led by

Holly Dewsnip SFHEA, Teaching and Learning Manchester, Teaching Excellence team and Professor Hannah Cobb NTF SFHEA, Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy, School of Arts, Langauges and Cultures and Academic Lead for Academic Development, Institute of Teaching and Learning

Not sure what reflective writing is, or how to do it effectively? Need to reflect for LEAP or your NAP portfolio, but not sure if you're doing it right? Feel like you knew about this in the past, but could do with a refresher?

All UoM staff were welcome to attend this session, which served as an introduction or refresher on reflection and reflective practice. We discussed the purpose of reflection and how it's different to 'just thinking' or ruminating, and explored a few models that can help you to structure and deepen your reflection (and might help you if you find you're getting stuck). Attendees could ask any questions they had on reflective thinking or reflective writing, and discuss any difficulties they may be having with these. 

This session was a friendly and informal space to explore reflection. It was facilitated by colleagues who believe in the developmental potential of reflection, but also understand that not everybody likes reflection or feels confident in it. Please come along with your questions and concerns, and we'll hopefully support you in finding a way forward that helps reflection work for you.

How to reflect will be repeated monthly.

For those who want to carve out some protected quiet time to get on with reflection, ‘Shut Up and Write’ style you may wish to attend one of our 'Action on Reflection' sessions: https://app.manchester.ac.uk/UMITL2005

• Click here to sign up for How to Reflect

Led by Professor Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy, and Holly Dewsnip SFHEA, Teaching and Learning Manchester, Teaching Excellence team

Need to reflect for your NAP portfolio or LEAP application, but struggling to get started? Want to see if reflection can help you build confidence and problem-solve? Know all about reflection, but finding it hard to carve out time to do it?

Come along to our monthly Friday sessions – all welcome!

During this session you will have the opportunity to: 

• Have a quick reminder on what reflection is and why we do it

• Carve out some protected quiet time to get on with reflection, ‘Shut Up and Write’ style

• Share and discuss your ideas with other interested colleagues if you wish to do so

These sessions will take place via Zoom and are not recorded, and colleagues are welcome to join us as many times as they wish to.

This session introduced what reflection is and why we do it, provided advice and support on reflective writing and carved out some quiet time to reflect.

• Click here to sign up for Action on Reflection

Led by Holly Dewsnip, Teaching and Learning Officer, Institute of Teaching and Learning and Professor Hannah Cobb NTF SFHEA, Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy, School of Arts, Langauges and Cultures and Academic Lead for Academic Development, Institute of Teaching and Learning

Not sure what reflective writing is, or how to do it effectively? Need to reflect for LEAP or your NAP portfolio, but not sure if you're doing it right? Feel like you knew about this in the past, but could do with a refresher?

All UoM staff were welcome to attend this session, which served as an introduction or refresher on reflection and reflective practice. We discussed the purpose of reflection and how it's different to 'just thinking' or ruminating, and explored a few models that can help you to structure and deepen your reflection (and might help you if you find you're getting stuck). Attendees could ask any questions they had on reflective thinking or reflective writing, and discuss any difficulties they may be having with these. 

This session was a friendly and informal space to explore reflection. It was facilitated by colleagues who believe in the developmental potential of reflection, but also understand that not everybody likes reflection or feels confident in it. Please come along with your questions and concerns, and we'll hopefully support you in finding a way forward that helps reflection work for you.

How to reflect will be repeated monthly.

For those who want to carve out some protected quiet time to get on with reflection, ‘Shut Up and Write’ style you may wish to attend one of our 'Action on Reflection' sessions: https://app.manchester.ac.uk/UMITL2005

• Click here to sign up for How to Reflect

Led by Professor Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy, and Holly Dewsnip, Institute of Teaching and Learning

Need to reflect for your NAP portfolio or LEAP application, but struggling to get started? Want to see if reflection can help you build confidence and problem-solve? Know all about reflection, but finding it hard to carve out time to do it?

Come along to our monthly Friday sessions – all welcome!

During this session you will have the opportunity to: 

• Have a quick reminder on what reflection is and why we do it

• Carve out some protected quiet time to get on with reflection, ‘Shut Up and Write’ style

• Share and discuss your ideas with other interested colleagues if you wish to do so

These sessions will take place via Zoom and are not recorded, and colleagues are welcome to join us as many times as they wish to.

This session introduced what reflection is and why we do it, provided advice and support on reflective writing and carved out some quiet time to reflect.

• Click here to sign up for Action on Reflection