What do successful applications have in common?
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Reflection Successful applications create a critical narrative, rather than a report. They do not only talk about what you have done, but why you did it, how you did it, how you evaluated its effectiveness, and what you learned from it. |
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Teaching and supporting learning can be a rollercoaster They say those who never failed never learned a lesson, and the assessors will be suspicious if your application tells a story of 100% success in everything you have done. All good teaching and learning support journeys have ups and downs, so don’t be afraid to talk about the things that haven’t worked so well, and what you learned from them. |
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Recent history Please include experiences that have taken place in the past five years (adjusting for career interruptions). If you reflect on any historic professional practice as part of your evidence, ensure that you focus on how this now impacts your current practice. |
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Literature All applications must show evidence of how your teaching or supporting learning practices have been underpinned by research. How have you applied research and what are the implications of that? |
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Spellcheck While you will ultimately be assessed on your experiences, reflections and use of literature, it is a good idea to have someone do a quick proofread of your application. A mistake-riddled application can make a poor first impression, and result in important messages getting lost in translation. |
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Know the word limit While sticking to word limits can be tough, keep in mind that the assessors are busy people who may not have the time to read more material than is needed. If you go over the word limits for the sections and for the overall application then you may be asked to revise and re-submit. The ability to write succinctly is an important skill. Don’t forget to state the word counts for each section. |