A tutor at The University of Law (ULaw) is part of a creative education group which has been awarded a prestigious Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).
Dr Anna Hunter, Programme and Student Lead PgCHE is part of the Creativity for Learning in Higher Education community, known as #creativeHE, that has been awarded the Advance HE CATE.
The CATE is a prestigious award given to teams who demonstrate collaborative approaches to developing teaching excellence and the impact on learning and teaching. A CATE award is a hallmark of successful collaborative work where passionate, like-minded professionals have developed and transformed staff and student experience in Higher Education.
Advance HE runs the CATE award alongside their National Teaching Fellowship scheme, recognising individual excellence in teaching practice.
Dr Hunter said: “I first attended a #CreativeHE event in the summer of 2018 when I was invited to showcase a collage making activity that I had been using in my teaching. I have always been interested in finding ways to teach differently but this can be a daunting, occasionally lonely endeavour. Joining the #CreativeHE community introduced me to like-minded colleagues with shared goals - to empower teachers, learners and researchers to embrace their creativity and let it shine in different ways through their practices.
“Becoming an organising member of #CreativeHE has allowed me to challenge myself further, by leading on projects and coordinating teams across institutions, even across borders! When I joined the University of Law in 2021 I was keen to continue developing creative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, and I feel very grateful that the University has supported me to do so.
“The CATE award means a great deal to me personally, as well as to the wider team, because it is awarded for excellence in collaboration. To me that is what #CreativeHE is all about - friends and colleagues working together to create a safe space for discussion and experimentation, trying to make teaching, learning, assessment and research more engaging for staff and students alike. It is wonderful to be recognised for this collegial approach that is at the heart of what we set out to achieve.”
Dr Hunter is now a member of the core organising team. The rotating leadership model used by the #CreativeHE team means that no academic year is ever the same for the organising team - in her time with #CreativeHE Anna has, among other things: led an editorial team for a journal special edition, organised live face to face and online events to support educators to develop their creative teaching and learning practices, coordinated the annual #CreativeHE Jam, and jointly held overall responsibility for coordinating the team activities in 2020-21.
Every year the team review their roles, and agree responsibilities for the forthcoming academic year, allowing members to take on new challenges. Looking ahead to 2022-23, this year Anna will be managing the #CreativeHE blog and hosting an online creative show and tell event in January 2023.
Dr Hunter added: I am very excited that ULaw will host its first #CreativeHE event which will be held in partnership with London School of Economics in January 2023.”
