Professor Tansy Jessop

Professor Tansy Jessop began her career as a History and Latin secondary teacher in apartheid South Africa. She wanted to make a difference through her teaching, so she taught an alternative perspective on South African history. Students described Tansy as "an inspirational History teacher", having "a massive, positive influence ...you opened my eyes to the reality of SA at that time". Tansy's PhD took her to areas of rural KwaZulu-Natal in the newly democratic South Africa, deepening her understanding of the relationship between teacher narratives and their professional lives. Her PhD journey began her love of teacher development, particularly understanding the links between the personal and public dimensions of teaching, and the relationship between the rational and affective aspects of being a teacher. Impact of work Since 2005, Tansy has been an educational developer, with a strong emphasis on evidence-informed practice. She has led the TESTA research project on programme-wide assessment and feedback, which Graham Gibbs described as "the nearest I have experienced to a perfect national scale development project in my 30 years in the business". TESTA has brought about a step change in thinking about assessment and feedback, and grown in leaps and bounds through Tansy's energy, creativity and expertise. More than 50 UK universities have used TESTA to improve assessment and feedback. Through TESTA, Tansy has helped academics wrestle the formative assessment beast to the ground, to the benefit of students' learning. She has advanced evidence-led, principled and team approaches to curriculum design. In her own practice, as a teacher of teachers, Tansy has had a powerful impact, as attested by her students: "You have had more impact on my professional practice than you can imagine! What an inspiration!" (Dr Rebecca Oakes, History Lecture, Winchester). Plans for the future Tansy believes that assessment can be used to transform how students learn and to overturn traditional educational paradigms. She is an advocate of engaging with the rich experience students bring to learning, and challenging 'facts first' approaches. This is why she is thrilled to be leading the development of Research Informed Teaching at Southampton Solent University, which is at the heart of its Strategy.