Collegiality in practice: Fellowship application boot camp

Thinking of applying for an AdvanceHE Fellowship but don’t want to go it alone? Dr Sam Newell (School of Psychology) explains how she and colleagues have created a supportive and motivating process for preparing and writing their applications.

Applying for an AdvanceHE Fellowship is a rewarding, yet challenging process, especially if you do it all by yourself. Dr Sam Newell explains how she and colleagues in the School of Psychology have created a supportive and motivating process for preparing and writing their applications.

Earlier this year, I, along with my valuable colleagues (Dr Peta Callaghan, Dr Sarah Halliday, Dr Natasha van Antwerpen, and Dr John Baranoff) from the School of Psychology identified a common goal: achieving Advance HE Fellowship within this academic year. Recognising the importance of this for our professional development, we devised a series of Writing Boot camps.

We began our journey by setting aside a four-week period, during which we scheduled three-hour blocks of dedicated time (chosen through a Doodle poll). Our introductory session was enriched by a series of pre-prepared PowerPoints provided by the Teach Excellence Team. These introductory materials introduced us to the UK Professional Standards Framework (on which Fellowship applications are based), including the ‘Areas of Activity’, ‘Values’, and ‘Knowledge’ that we needed to speak to.

Our initial plan included a range of sessions designed for various purposes. For example, we ran a session devoted to exploring pedagogy. To prepare for this session, I compiled a document of the major pedagogical theories, theorists, teaching approaches and strategies. Having this shared language around pedagogy allowed us to discuss our unique teaching philosophies. For example, I found myself most influenced by Social Constructivist pedagogy and Cognitive Apprenticeship theory, whilst another colleague found their narrative through Mezirow’s Transformative Learning theory. This shared understanding proved invaluable, helping us frame the narrative for our applications and grounding our beliefs in evidence-based practices. It also shed light on pedagogical terms and concepts that had informed our teaching but may have been unnamed. As a group, we reflected on this step and considered it essential to understanding 'our story'.

We set some initial deadlines for drafts, and planned to have 1500 words written by the 5th session. The goal was to allow for a series of group feedback sessions, where one group member shared their draft and received feedback from the rest of the group. However, as the weeks unfolded the demands of our work left us with less time for writing outside of our Boot camps. This prompted a natural evolution in our approach. Instead of our planned activities, the sessions organically transformed into invaluable, dedicated writing time. Without these Boot camps, we would have faced significant challenges in both finding dedicated time and keeping our motivation high to complete the application.

A consistent method that punctuated our Boot camps was the use of writing sprints, employing the Pomodoro technique. Each writing sprint was a focused 25-minute session, followed by a 5-minute chat break that provided a brief exchange of ideas and encouragement. This approach (overseen by a facilitator acting as a timekeeper), kept us on track and devoted to our writing. It became a useful method that we continued to use throughout our Boot camps.Sam Newell

Irrespective of the outcomes of our applications, we have found this a valuable experience in understanding our own applications of pedagogy (and in being more intentional about the decisions we make in our teaching and learning practice).

If you are considering running Fellowship writing boot camps, I recommend the following strategy: begin with an overview of the application requirements, followed by in-depth discussion around pedagogy (and identifying your teaching philosophy). Then, commit to pre-determined weekly writing sessions to ensure progress and nurture camaraderie.