Chair of the National Forum, Dr Lynn Ramsey, this morning officially opened VIT&L Week, a national event series focused on valuing Ireland’s teaching and learning. VIT&L Week takes place from 08 to 12 November 2021 and involves students, staff, senior managers and policy partners from Ireland’s higher education sector 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.
The keynote was given at the Week’s opening event by Prof Frank Coton (Senior Vice Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at University of Glasgow). Prof Coton shared his thoughts on Why Valuing Teaching and Learning is VITAL. The opening event also saw an overview being provided by Dr Terry Maguire, Director of the National Forum, of the key features of VIT&L Week.
VIT&L highlights include the following:
The Scholarship Hour and Gasta Marathon
Running daily online from 12:30-13:30, the Scholarship Hour will provide an opportunity to share teaching and learning scholarship, enhancement innovations, findings and insights, and prompt further conversations among those who teach and learn. Scholarship Hour participants will also have the opportunity to hear the initial research findings of the Inaugural National Forum Teaching and Learning Research Fellows and. Register here.
The VIT&L Scholarship Poster Showcase
The VIT&L Scholarship Poster Showcase will feature over 70 posters detailing teaching and learning research from across Irish higher education. Two Poster Showcases will take place during the VIT&L Scholarship Hours on Wednesday 10 November and Friday 12 November 2021. Register here.
Ministerial Launch of Next Steps Report and Findings
As the project lead, the National Forum is delighted to announce that Simon Harris T.D., Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science, will officially launch the report and findings from the national sectoral partnership project ‘Next Steps for Teaching and Learning: Moving Forward Together’. The overarching aim of the ‘Next Steps’ project is to address the question, in the context of COVID-19, ‘What have we learnt and what does it mean for the future of teaching and learning in Irish higher education?’ Register here.
VIT&L Events
The Irish higher education community will host a range of local VIT&L Events, to highlight the value of teaching and learning within their own institutional, project or disciplinary contexts and to consider how the value of teaching and learning can be strengthened into the future. VIT&L events organised by programme teams, discipline groups, schools, institutions and national groups across Irish higher education will run from 08-30 November 2021. The VIT&L events calendar including links to all VIT&L Events is available here.
For more information, a programme of events, and registration information, see here: https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/vital/ or follow us on #NFVital
