Lecturer reaches the pinnacle of teaching with fellowship award
By: News Archive
A UEA lecturer of 20 years who has overcome breast cancer has today received an internationally renowned teaching award for her work in bridging the gap between sixth-form and university for thousands of students.
Dr Harriet Jones, Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at UEA and Director of the University’s Pre-University Skills Programme, has received a National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) in recognition of her sustained impact in teaching and supporting learning in UK higher education.
Harriet first started teaching at UEA in 1999 on a short-term contract when she was six months pregnant. Originally paid at an hourly rate to deliver lectures, she has since worked her way up to become a senior lecturer and is now a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biologists.
In her additional role as Director of UEA’s Pre-University Skills Programme, Harriet specialises in teaching first-year undergraduates and has published numerous articles and research papers on the transition from school to university.
The programme features a MOOC (massive open online course) called ‘Preparing for University’, which reaches tens of thousands of students across the globe to help them in areas that might be new to them, such as independent study, how to reference and questioning in a university environment.
Harriet has also helped create resources for schools to cope with the extra demands of the new A-levels and co-authored ‘The Perfect Post-16 Literacy Toolkit’, a book for sixth-form teachers to help students with increasing literacy requirements in many of the new A-levels.
Harriet said: “I applied this year expecting to get feedback on where I’d gone wrong with a view to doing it properly next year, so it was a really pleasant surprise when I heard I’d received the fellowship.”
In 2017, Harriet was diagnosed with breast cancer and required an operation. However, following complications after the operation, she lost two litres of blood and had to go into critical care.
She said: “Had the hospital sent me home after my operation, I wouldn’t be here today. I’m still taking medication now but surgery and radiotherapy helped me come through the toughest part. I took a year off during the treatment but I couldn’t wait to come back again.
“I’m still in the recovery stage and for the fellowship to come two years after the diagnosis is a really emotional experience and I’m utterly overwhelmed and amazed by the award.”
The NTF is awarded by the Advance HE board and to receive it is regarded as reaching the pinnacle of teaching in higher education in the UK.
Harriet is UEA’s seventh National Teaching Fellow and will pick up her award in October at the UK Teaching Excellence Awards Ceremony in Manchester.
Harriet became a University Teaching Fellow (UTF) three years ago and UEA nominations for the NTF are taken from the pool of UTFs. As part of her new fellowship, Harriet can now officially mentor academics and teachers who are UTFs.
Prof Kay Yeoman runs the UTF scheme as Academic Director for Learning and Teaching Enhancement and said: “We’re thrilled that Harriet’s sustained work over a period of two decades has been recognised. She didn’t once mention her treatment in her application, which makes this fellowship all the more remarkable. What she’s achieved at UEA has had a major national impact in supporting students from widely varying backgrounds.
“We’re heading towards that time of year where thousands of young adults across the world will be finding out they’re going to university and doubtless worrying about how they will adapt to a new learning environment. So many of them will be benefiting from Harriet’s teaching and guidance without even realising it.
Alison Johns, Advance HE’s chief executive, said: “Becoming a National Teaching Fellow is a huge achievement that can be truly life-changing. Creating ambassadors for innovative and impactful teaching who are valued by institutions and colleagues, and who can set change in motion to make a really positive impact on the student experience and outcomes across their institution and beyond.”
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