Dr Stacie Gray, Academic Practice Lead at the University of Northampton, shares lessons learned from designing an Associate Professor (Learning and Teaching) development programme. 

The journey towards Associate Professor (Learning and Teaching) begins long before colleagues consider applying for progression. Creating space to explore educational leadership earlier in their careers can help colleagues: 

• recognise the breadth of educational leadership that supports progression 
• understand how different experiences connect 
• make meaningful choices about their future development.  

These insights emerged through the design of a development programme for aspiring associate professors (Learning and Teaching) at the University of Northampton (UON). Through designing this programme, I identified three key considerations that may be valuable for institutions seeking to develop similar pathways: 

• Supporting holistic educational leadership development. 
• Creating opportunities for structured reflection. 
• Ensuring representation of diverse leadership journeys. 

Holistic educational leadership development  

One of the key considerations during the design process was how to support colleagues to explore the breadth of educational leadership. While dedicated sessions can enable deeper exploration of broad practice areas, participants are encouraged to draw connections between areas, recognise where their existing expertise contributes across multiple dimensions of educational leadership and identify opportunities for future growth.    

Using the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) as a developmental framework was particularly helpful. Mapping sessions to relevant PSF dimensions helped create a well-rounded developmental pathway, ensuring broad coverage of educational leadership while reinforcing opportunities for reflection throughout the programme. 

Structured reflection 

Embedded within sessions throughout the programme and supported through a reflective journal assessment, reflection is positioned as an ongoing process of sense-making that enables colleagues to: 

• identify strengths, areas for growth and future opportunities 
• consider the breadth of their educational leadership contribution
• connect experiences as they emerge and understand how they contribute to their development 
• build their leadership narrative over time, rather than trying to reconstruct a leadership narrative when progression becomes an immediate consideration.

I developed a set of prompts to help colleagues articulate and evidence their contribution to learning and teaching, while simultaneously supporting their attainment of Senior Fellowship through UON’s Advance HE Accredited Academic and Professional Practice Scheme. 

The reflective prompts could be adopted by institutions developing similar educational leadership pathways or incorporated into Senior Fellowship development activities.  

Representation  

By showcasing the diversity of educational leadership across learning and teaching, the programme aims to: 

• broaden understanding of diverse educational leadership journeys and practice 
• remain accessible to colleagues from different professional contexts and background 
• encourage participants to reflect on how cross-disciplinary and cross-professional relationships might expand their networks, and influence opportunities for their future development. 

My recent transition from an academic role within a faculty to a professional services role as Academic Practice Lead reinforced this thinking. Experiencing both contexts highlighted the diverse ways colleagues contribute to learning and teaching, with some of the most significant contributions emerging through collaboration across academic and professional services teams. 

The value of a dedicated development programme  

My motivation for developing the programme stemmed from my own journey towards Associate Professor (Learning and Teaching). While the destination was clear, I found myself navigating several questions along the way. How do different dimensions of educational leadership come together in practice? What does educational leadership look like beyond my immediate context? How do I access and engage with the wider areas of educational leadership that sit beyond my own experience and networks? 

These reflections inspired a dedicated development programme for UON colleagues that enables them to: 

• explore educational leadership more holistically and intentionally at an earlier point in their career 
• recognise and capture their leadership contributions as they emerge 
• reflect on strengths and opportunities for further development 
• build a meaningful, personalised pathway for their progression.  

How is your institution creating earlier developmental opportunities for colleagues to holistically reflect on, and meaningfully grow, their educational leadership over time?