A new website, including open calls for contributions, has just been launched in preparation for a series of national and regional events due to take place across the country this November focused on ‘Valuing Ireland’s Teaching & Learning’ (VIT&L).
VIT&L Week, which takes place on 08-12 November, will involve students, staff, senior managers and policy partners through a mix of in-person and online events in which good practice and scholarship will be shared, strategic discussions will be held, excellence will be recognised, and the sector will come together to consider how to realise the promise of a valued and informed teaching and learning culture in Irish higher education.
All members of the higher education community are welcome to get involved in VIT&L Week by hosting or taking part in an event, sharing their teaching and learning scholarship, contributing to showcase videos, or taking part in related activities. Two calls for contributions, published today, give further details:
Funding is available for those who wish to host an event at their institution, focused on valuing teaching and learning. Events can take place from 08-30 November 2021. VIT&L Events aim to enhance and challenge the higher education community’s awareness, understanding and thinking about the value of teaching and learning across campuses.
VIT&L Week will include a Scholarship Showcase, including daily scholarship hours and an online poster gallery. A call is now open for those who would like to submit a poster and/or give a Gasta lightning talk as part of VIT&L Week. The VIT&L Scholarship Showcase aims to provide an opportunity to consider links between research and practice in teaching and learning and to explore the evidence that has been built to support higher education staff as both teachers and researchers.
Further details on VIT&L Week, including a draft calendar for the week, are available at www.teachingandlearning.ie/vital
A centrepiece of VIT&L Week will be the launch on 10 November of findings from a national partnership project, the Next Steps for Teaching and Learning: Moving Forward Together project, announced recently by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, T.D. As the higher education sector plans for a potential emergence from the pandemic and begins to look to the future, this project involves leading sectoral partners working together to better understand the post-2020 teaching and learning landscape and to build an informed vision for the future of teaching and learning in Ireland. More information on the Next Steps project is available here.
