Ian Gillan reflects on his journey of becoming a National Teaching Fellow as an academic developer at the University of the West of Scotland.

I am honoured to be a 2026 National Teaching Fellow. If my National Teaching Fellowship tells you anything, it’s that this award is not the exclusive preserve of senior leaders from elite institutions.  

I am not senior at all; I’m closer to the middle rank of my university’s management structure. I’m not even an academic. I’ve spent almost my entire career in professional services at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), a post-92 institution that is Scotland’s leading university for widening access.  

For the last decade I have worked as an academic designer with an explicit focus on promoting social justice, and I am proud to have achieved an NTF in the course of this work. In this blog I outline the main contours of my work, and demonstrate how collaboration is at the heart of everything I do. 

What I do 

First, a note on my job title. For a decade I have laboured under the moniker of [deep breath] Creative & Academic Development Consultant. You sometimes hear people say that they don’t cover all of their job description in their role; I’m not sure I cover all of my job title. 

Leaving my title aside, I affirm the social constructivist principle that we must meet learners where they are, not where we are – and meet them with compassion and excitement. In recent years I have brought this approach to a range of transformative projects, which include the following:  

• I played a key role in developing UWS’s skills and professional practice portfolio;  

• I was at the heart of a shift towards culturally-responsive practice at the UWS London campus; and  

• I was curriculum advisor to Scotland’s first Graduate Apprenticeship for Social Work. 

How I (or we) do it 

What links these initiatives is the importance of collaboration. Higher education is a collective endeavour, and my work is always undertaken in partnership with my inspirational colleagues.  

Over the last decade my role has been embedded within an academic department. This institutional location means I play a part in the everyday life of the department, and my academic colleagues have come to see me as part of the team. Indeed, I contribute to teaching and assessment alongside them, so I really am part of the team in every sense. As a result, when we discuss academic practice or curriculum design my colleagues understand that I am on their side, not attempting to impose an external agenda. That relationship of trust has enabled us to collaborate meaningfully and effectively, and our National Student Survey scores relating to the student learning experience have risen consistently across our department while we’ve worked together.  

I have also benefited incalculably from the advocacy and encouragement of my Dean, Dr Claire Harkins. Claire has empowered me to inform the curriculum and portfolio strategy in our department, and to lead the implementation of strategic projects. A role like mine relies on institutional sponsorship and I could not have wished for a more effective backer than Claire. 

Secret leaders 

I am indebted to so many other colleagues across UWS and beyond for working in partnership with me. I want to single out another Claire, Dr Claire Mackie, who is the NTF lead at UWS. Claire motivated me to apply for the award in the first place and supported me through the process with her characteristic enthusiasm and expertise. Claire quietly makes UWS better every day and I am not the first person to benefit from her generosity. Every institution has someone like Claire spreading their magic behind the scenes, and they are all worth their weight in gold. 

But as a professional services member of staff I want to celebrate my colleagues in academic administration above all. I have been very lucky over the years to work alongside countless resilient, dedicated and professional administration colleagues (some called Claire, some with other names). They often understand our students better than anyone, and they do more to help our students succeed than they are recognised for. Good academic design and effective teaching are important elements of a widening access institution, but compassionate and helpful staff are even more important. 

Keeping it real 

Finally, a personal reflection. I was a teenager in the 90s, and the key principle in alternative music communities back then was that you must protect your credibility at all costs by refusing to sell out. I have never really grown out of this idea, and throughout my career in higher education my twin commitments to widening access and to collaborative practice have helped to orientate me within an increasingly marketised environment.  

I began by noting that my NTF proves you don’t need to be a senior academic at a Russell Group institution to achieve this award. I hope it also shows that you can achieve the respect of your peers without straying from your values. 

Ian Gillan is an academic designer at the University of the West of Scotland. His practice is grounded in a commitment to social justice and widening participation, and informed by his disciplinary background in political theory. Ian is also a Principal Fellow of Advance HE.