How is good practice in teaching and learning recognised and rewarded

[cheeseoverchocolate]

within your department and your university?

There is nothing in place where I work.It doesn't particularly bother me but I do know it makes part of the team really feel unappreciated and dejected. What is it like where you are? Are there any schemes, awards, rewards, incentives, etc in place?

teaching awards at faculty and uni level
THE style nominations / awards for T&L projects
teaching-track promotion

it's good! [but not as good as bringing a fat research grant :/ ]

We have that except no teaching track promotions, (otherwise I would have been promoted several years before it happened). They ,keep making noises about it, but it's not happening. Ours is still very grant oriented. I don't think the TEF will change much as we have done very well in the first round, so they will take that as a sign nothing need change!

There are student nominated teaching awards at mine, run by the SU. The nominations tend to be a popularity thing rather than a meaningful reflection of teaching quality as far as I can tell, but the SU have a committee that tries to see beyond that to decide a shortlist and winners.

There are awards for T&L projects too, but they always go to the same people. It's like a T&L cartel.

Thanks everyone. We have that issue with recognising good teaching practice vs popularity. MEQs are not necessarily much help in this respect.

Yes us too, it's awards or prizes, and I think the dept head likes when courses are popular, conversely they would challenge someone whose teaching was causing complaints or was very unpopular. So all that does send a message that teaching is valued. But it is very much second fiddle at hiring and promotion , and the prizes are rare. So all incentives are in place to teach pretty well, but not to put in the considerable extra effort to be brilliant.

Thanks. May I ask what type of prizes we are talking about?

The last UUK institution I worked in opened a teaching and learning professorial promotional route. They closed it again in 2008 two years later.

We also have student union run popularity type ones and then 'proper' teaching awards which I've never understood because you have to submit an application for it. I always thought If I got an award it's because someone had noticed how fantastic I am but sadly no one ever does. Either that means I'm not fantastic or no one cares!

It isn't.

I mean, technically there are institutional awards and things, and in theory there is a largely L&T route to promotion, but in practice all anyone really cares about is our publications.

Which I think is wrong, as the vast majority of our income is from student fees now, but hey ho.

our prizes are institutional (internal) prizes like the Dean's prize for xx or the President's prize for yy.
another problem at my uni is that they consistently are not transparent about promotion and progression, but from what I gather, while you feel happy if you get these prizes, they won't get you a promotion like a few nice grants and top papers likely would (after which the good teaching is icing, but can't help without the cake, as it were) .