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Lecturer leads on behavioural diversity at European business event
Chris Jackson, Senior Lecturer and Team Coach in the Business and Enterprise Department at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), represented the University at the recent Academic Adventures event at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) in Finland. Traveling as Part of the Erasmus+ programme, Chris delivered two sessions on the importance of behavioural diversity in learning teams and took part in sessions that discussed how BGU use the Team Academy model of 'learning by doing' in our own BA(Hons) Team Entrepreneurship programme. The event was attended by delegates from across Europe who were keen to explore how self-determined or 'project-based' learning can be used in disciplines other than business, including HR, Physiotherapy and Teacher Education. This is in response to some academic institutions moving away from subject-specific delivery and embracing different models of learning. Returning from the Academic Adventures event Chris commented: "The response from delegates was very positive. This was largely due to the fact that delegates were able to hear first-hand from students and team coaches as to how the methodology is implemented and then acted upon. Just as at BGU, the process of the business course learning is that students have to design and run their own business projects - they're expected to earn as they learn!" "However, Team Academy methods aren't restricted to learning about business within higher education. Other disciplines may well want to explore business or enterprise elements, but then it's possibly more about adding value and difference than making money. "The way that this process works in academia is that projects are designed and executed by students in ways that address a particular issue. As the process evolves, they identify gaps in their knowledge - they discover what they don't know. The thing is, this differs from project to project and student to student, making the individual learning very relevant. As projects progress, learners are encouraged to underpin their experience with relevant academic theory - their experienced combined with their academic learning provides observable and assessable criteria." Finland are world-leaders in education and BGU have been using methodology closely aligned to the Tiimiakatemia model of business learning for four years. If you’re interested in a future in international business or in starting your own company, our business courses are the perfect path to take. You can find more information on them on our website or by contacting our Enquiries Team. -
Find everything you need to succeed with new Foundation Year courses at BGU
Find everything you need to succeed with new Foundation Year courses at BGU From September Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) will offer a new suite of Foundation Year courses designed to help people succeed in Higher Education. The new Foundation Year courses offer the chance to study almost any undergraduate degree at BGU over four years, rather than the traditional three. The first year is focused on equipping learners with the necessary tools to excel in Higher Education such as critical thinking and digital skills along with boosting confidence and employability. Throughout the year learners will be able to engage with their chosen subject through special sessions and projects. Once the first year has been completed they will then move straight onto the rest of the course without having to reapply. The courses are open to all ages and experiences and Dr Claire Thomson, Head of BGU’s Centre for Enhancement in Learning and Teaching, whose team will be leading the new Foundation Year praised the benefits the new degrees could offer: “The new Foundation Year options are uniquely adaptable courses that speak to the diversity of the students taking part and can be tailored based on their experience. Students will be able, on certain modules, to choose their topics and projects to match their interests and will have opportunities to experience leading learning sessions. Our ultimate goal is to give people a chance to see that they belong in Higher Education and are an integral part of BGU community.” In addition to the adaptable nature of the courses, the first year of all options will have no set exams and be based around supported learning. Students will have both a personal tutor, as well as a subject liaison tutor, ensuring they have the best preparation possible to succeed in their chosen path. Aimed at traditionally low participation learners, those who potentially lack the confidence or qualifications to consider themselves capable of succeeding in Higher Education, these courses build on the continuing work being carried out by BGU to widen participation in Higher Education. If you’d like to find out more about the new Foundation Year course options, visit our Foundation Year web page, speak to a member of our Enquiries Team or join us on one of Open Days. -
Academics complete international project exploring personalised learning
Academics from the School of Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have completed work on an Erasmus+ project this month, attending the final meeting in The Netherlands to showcase their output. The Erasmus+ project, on Personalised Learning in Primary and Secondary education phases, included research teams from The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland and the BGU UK team. The academics involved from the School of Teacher Development were; Dr. Emma Clarke, Kevin McLaughlin, Shaun Thompson, Dr. Jonathan Wainwright and Aimee Quickfall. The BGU team joined the project in January this year, taking over from a school partner in Lincoln, and quickly became part of a strong research group across Europe during visits to The Netherlands and Sweden in the spring. Their output is the 'teacher profile' - a tool for teachers across Europe to assess their own level of personalised learning practice, with advice and targets if they wish to increase their level of skill in this area as Dr Clarke explained: “The toolkit is deliberately non-judgemental, for teachers to use individually or with peers. It avoids suggesting that some teaching approaches are better than others - but will support practitioners who wish to develop key personalised learning skills.” As part of the final project meeting, the Erasmus+ team presented to teachers and leaders in The Netherlands. Returning from the meeting Aimee commented: “It has been a pleasure to be involved in this European project, with researchers who have different backgrounds, settings and perspectives, but who share a passion for improving education and professional development for teachers. We have built relationships with our partner teams and hope we can continue to develop our links and projects.” The completed project will 'go live' in the autumn of 2019. If you’re interested in a future in education, our BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS (3 year undergraduate degree), BA (Hons) Primary Teaching Studies with QTS (15 month top up degree), and PGCE courses are the perfect ways to begin or continue your adventure on the path to becoming a fantastic teacher! If you have any questions, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. -
BGU collaborate with Czech University to support the student experience
Academic staff from Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) visited the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University (MUni), situated in the city of Brno in the Czech Republic, to explore opportunities for supporting student experience. The visit built upon a collegiate partnership between MUni and BGU, which focuses on academic and professional standards, improving student experience and opportunities for sharing good practice in learning and teaching. Dr Claire Thomson, Head of the Centre for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), and Caroline Meredith, Academic Lead for Flexible and Distributed Learning, facilitated a workshop for MUni colleagues, to explore evaluative frameworks for student experience, retention and attainment. Colleagues discussed strategies to develop students’ positive engagement with University life, which aligns to BGU’s Graduate Attribute framework. Claire shared evidence of CELT's substantial student engagement and enhancement work over the past eighteen months. This includes many examples of good practice in engaging students in academic and personal development activities, student wellbeing initiatives and student-focussed conferences, all of which contribute to students’ identity as successful learners who belong firmly in BGU’s learning community. This responds to research findings, in which students’ sense of belonging and their self-image as successful learners have been shown as crucial to student retention and achievement (What Works? Student retention and success; Thomas, Hill, O’Mahony and Yorke, 2017). Colleagues also had detailed discussions around the programme-level annual monitoring process at BGU, and compared it to the evaluative framework being developed at MUni’s Faculty of Education. A highlight of the visit for Claire and Caroline was an excursion to the elementary school at Bosonožská. They met senior staff, observed some learning and teaching and enjoyed a traditional Czech school lunch with teachers and children of the school. Colleagues examined and discussed the embedding of Professional Standards in curriculum design at BGU, and discussed ways this could be developed at MUni. MUni staff plan a return visit to BGU in 2020, to share approaches and strategies for the assessment of placement experience with students in Lincolnshire schools. If you would like to become a part of BGU’s growing international community, visit our website, speak to a member of our Enquiries Team or join us on one of our Open Days to find out how to take your first steps. -
How Learning While Earning Created New Adventures for Me
How Learning While Earning Created New Adventures for Me By Ryan Hinson (MA in Professional Studies - now called MA in Professional Practice with Children, Young People and Families - student at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) – also former FdA and BA Professional Studies student) I’ve always been the kind of person who is seeking out the next challenge. I was keen to get a degree but I needed to stay in work which made the Foundation Degree in Professional studies at BGU a perfect option. It’s incredibly flexible and meant I could still pay my bills and spend time with my kids while I learned it was a difficult balance but definitely worth it. That everyone is working part-time while they study (I was working 4 days a week as 1:1 Teaching Assistant in a primary school) is one of the great things about the foundation degree because it means all of us understand each other’s backgrounds and how to provide support. Even though I was the only man on the course I wasn’t left out and I was able to build a connection with the other students on my course. Those connections helped me enjoy the course and build momentum to carry me through onto both the undergraduate and postgraduate professional studies degree courses. The lecturers were also incredibly supportive and offer a wealth of knowledge, they definitely make you feel like they’re alongside you throughout your degree. Completing the foundation degree gave me the confidence to apply for new jobs and I’m now running my own after school clubs, teaching sport and supporting larger groups of children. All my confidence came from my degree, you gain experience giving presentations and you can learn from students around you. Once I finish my master's I will probably stay in the job I’m currently in as I really enjoy it, but I’d also like to write a book on my experiences as a male in Primary Education. I’m a father to two children and would love to explore how my relationship with them has guided my professional work. I definitely feel like it gives me perspective in my teaching role, I try to be calm and empathetic with the children and parents I work with – as I hope people would be with my kids! I find working with children as the most rewarding job available and would definitely recommend more men consider it as a potential career paths. It has huge personal development benefits and the children really respond to male role models. Don’t think of Primary work as just for women, there are loads of amazing opportunities for guys who want to follow that path. Looking back now I’m so pleased I took on the courses at BGU, I’m a different person to when I started and I wouldn’t be where I am, in a job I love, if I hadn’t. If you’re interested in following a new career that allows you to earn while you learn our Foundation Degree courses are the perfect place to start. Visit our website, contact a member of our Enquiries Team or join us on one of our Open Days for more information. -
BGU students invited to share their guidance in developing ‘Reading for Pleasure’
Students on the BA Primary Education with QTS course at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have been sharing their good practice to encourage children to ‘read for pleasure’ with other HE institutions and schools. -
BGU Team Win £15,000 Grant to Support New RE Learning Initiative
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has successfully bid for a £15,000 pilot project, allowing six local schools to develop an ongoing friendship with a trained 'faith practitioner', learning more about them and their religion & culture. The Learning About Religion through Dialogue (LAR-D) programme is designed to nurture local Religious Education (RE) teachers, strengthen RE teaching and encourage pupils to engage in direct dialogue with faith practitioners. The six chosen schools will be allocated a specific faith member who will then visit and become a ‘friend’ of the school for 6 months. The schools can then craft sessions for their pupils with the practitioner to help them discover more about faith and culture. The LAR-D programme is based around the concept of enquiry-based-learning (EBL) which stems from the RE-searchers programme. It encourages pupils to research and explore ideas for themselves by making direct contact with people of faith, in order to converse with them about matters that are of concern or interest to them. This allows the pupils to form a relationship with the faith-members, and engage in ongoing conversation providing wider learning, rather than merely asking questions and getting answers. If you’re interested in a future exploring and discussing religion then our Theology courses and RE teaching pathways could be for you. Visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today for more information. -
BGU wellbeing research reaches a wider audience at national conference
Academics from the School of Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), Dr. Emma Clarke and Aimee Quickfall, presented their on-going wellbeing research at a British Education Research Association (BERA) special interest group, last month. The BERA Mental Health, Wellbeing and Education special interest group support researchers in education who are looking at the mental health and wellbeing of students, teachers and children. Their July event included presentations from The Education Support Network, Professor Andrew Ravenscroft from the University of East London and Dr. Elizabeth Nye from the University of Oxford. Following the event Aimee explained how the diverse nature of the attendees made the BERA group the perfect place to present their research: “The attendees were hugely supportive and interested in our research methods and findings. We have made links with other universities and organisations who have the same passion to improve conditions for teachers and trainee teachers that we have, and we look forward to working with them in the future.” The research project at the centre of Aimee and Emma’s presentation, which has so far included projects in Finland, Denmark and at two universities in the UK, has been carried out by Shaun Thompson, Sue Lambert, Hannah Wells, Dr. Claire Thomson, Dr. Emma Clarke, Aimee Quickfall, a team of student researchers on the BGU PGCE Primary programme and Professor Jonathan Glazzard at Leeds Beckett University, as well as faculty members in The University of Eastern Finland and UCC in Copenhagen. For Dr. Clarke the opportunity to work with student researchers on the project was a particular highlight: “The interviews and other methods were enjoyable for researchers and participants. We particularly enjoyed working as a team with student researchers, who helped to design the research and to keep it strongly focused on the student experience of the PGCE.” Strands of the project have used photo-elicitation to capture the daily experiences of being a teacher trainee, as well as drawing timelines of the whole programme in terms of well-being and semi-structured interviews to talk through the photographs and timelines. The team have also used a simple 'see-saw' model for trainees to consider their resources and challenges and whether they can balance these. The team are now building in sessions for trainees on the PGCE Primary to think and talk about their well-being based on their pilot study findings, as well as rolling out the well-being research for a second year with Leeds Beckett University and international collaborators. If you’re interested in a future in education, our BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS (3 year undergraduate degree), BA (Hons) Primary Teaching Studies with QTS (15 month top up degree), and PGCE courses are the perfect ways to begin or continue your adventure on the path to becoming a fantastic teacher! If you have any questions, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. -
BGU lecturer joins academic and literary legends in exploring a balanced curriculum for children
Aimee Quickfall, Head of Programmes for Primary and Early Years in the School of Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has contributed a chapter to a new book on the primary curriculum.'A Broad and Balanced Curriculum in Primary Schools: Educating the whole child' identifies the pressures of standardised testing and the focus on English and maths as impacting factors on teaching time, and asks how teachers can ensure that the curriculum truly is broad and balanced. Contributors provide an exploration of the current challenges in the curriculum as well as guidance on how to tackle them. Aimee's chapter looks at using philosophical inquiry with primary age children and how an hour a week of thinking deeply and discussing interesting questions together can improve teamwork, mutual respect, problem-solving skills, as well as writing, reading and mathematics achievement. Contributors include children's literary legend and former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen; and Professor Teresa Cremin, Professor of Education (Literacy) at The Open University in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies and is available now through a number of outlets. Speaking following the book's publication Aimee expressed her delight at being involved: "I am delighted to have been invited to contribute to this very important book, which reflects how passionately the School of Teacher Development team at BGU feel about a broad and balanced curriculum for our teacher trainees and their pupils" If you’re interested in a future in education, our BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS (3 year undergraduate degree), BA (Hons) Primary Teaching Studies with QTS (15 month top up degree), and PGCE courses are the perfect ways to begin or continue your adventure on the path to becoming a fantastic teacher! If you have any questions, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. 'A Broad and Balanced Curriculum in Primary Schools: Educating the whole child' is edited by Susan Ogier and published by Sage. -
Heritage sites and museums across the East Midlands recognised for their informal learning at awards event
Over 30 museums, historic houses, cathedrals and country parks from the East Midlands that took part in the Sandford Award for Informal Learning (SAIL) were recognised at a major award ceremony this week. SAIL, a National Lottery Heritage Fund joint initiative of Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) and the Heritage Education Trust, supports museums and heritage sites to create memorable learning experiences for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. From family discovery trails and toddler ‘mini museum’ play sessions to reminiscence sessions for visitors with dementia and autism-friendly visits, visitors to these award-winning sites can enjoy new opportunities to touch objects, share stories and see previously hidden treasures. Dr Tracy Borman, Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust, who presented the awards at the ceremony which took place at the National Civil War Centre, Newark said: “I am delighted to be presenting the SAIL awards, which recognise and celebrate informal learning at heritage sites. When we hear the term ‘heritage education’, we tend to think of school visits, but learners come from all backgrounds - from families and young adults to aspiring historians and those with special needs, or visitors simply looking for an enjoyable day out. Our award winners have shown just what a difference high quality programmes can make to visitors of all ages and abilities.” Professor Scott Fleming, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of BGU said: “The awards event was a wonderful celebration of inspiring work from across the East Midlands. So much of what’s been achieved is exactly what BGU is all about – inclusive education, outstanding learning, sharing heritage and changing lives. We’re delighted to have been involved.” Anne Jenkins, Director Midlands & East at the National Lottery Heritage Fund explained how the project was a perfect candidate for its support. “The National Lottery Heritage Fund has supported nearly 12,000 projects with over £1.6 billion National Lottery funding in the Midlands and East region, including the National Civil War Centre. Learning is central to most of our projects. Delivering best practice in learning has certainly been at the heart of this project led by Bishop Grosseteste University. The programme has played an invaluable role in building the confidence and skills of the heritage sector in this part of the world.” For more information please contact Lorraine Heyes, Sandford Cascade Learning Officer on 07808 018924 or via lorraine.heyes@bishopg.ac.uk Full list of award recipients: Banks Newton Heritage Beaumanor Hall Belton House National Trust Boughton House and the Montagu Monuments Bradgate Park Canalside Heritage Centre Chainbridge Forge Corby Heritage Centre Cotesbach Educational Trust Creswell Crags Museum and Heritage Centre Cromford Mills Derby Museums Trust: Derby Museum and Art Gallery Pickford’s House Doddington Hall Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association Erewash Museum The Flintham Museum The Hero Project Hinckley & District Museum Kedleston Hall National Trust Leicester Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral Lincolnshire County Council The Collection Lincoln Castle Gainsborough Old Hall Museum of Lincolnshire Life Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum National Civil War Centre Nottinghamshire County Council Bestwood Country Park Sherwood Forest Rufford Abbey Perlethorpe Outdoor Education Cotgrave Country Park The Mill at Kingsmill St Michael’s Centre Normanby Hall North Lincolnshire Museum Nottingham Industrial Museum Nottingham News Centre RAF Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre Sir John Moore Foundation Southwell Minster Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Sulgrave Manor Thoresby Park We’ll Meet Again WWII Museum
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