In addition to the subject-specific training discussed in the previous section, I continually seek to update and enhance my generic teaching and leaning skills. I do this through various means, including formal appraisal, learner feedback, peer observation, dialogue with colleagues, research, training in ancillary subjects, especially ICT, and online resources and communities. Again, I shall comment briefly on each and supply evidence to illustrate the points.

All the institutions at which I have taught have had supportive and constructive appraisal procedures, with which I have fully engaged and from which I have benefited greatly. An example from my FE teaching is this audit from Newcastle-under-Lyme college, which also includes my lesson plan, scheme of work, lesson handout, and self-evaluation. Opportunities for formal appraisal and CPD are more limited in my present post (though I prepare self-assessments and receive a short annual staff assessment), but to illustrate how seriously I take appraisal procedures, I would this cite this preparation document and this report from an one of my appraisal sessions at the OU.)

I regard student feedback as an important resource in refining my skills, especially since, where feasible, I practice differentiated teaching. I aim to be continually sensitive and responsive to student experience, and I study feedback questionnaires carefully, analyse them, and draw up action plans. As an illustration, I include this report, in which I analyse student feedback on a philosophy course I tutored. I treat student assessment as a form of feedback too, reflecting the success of my teaching.

Peer observation and dialogue is another valuable tool and I have learned much from my colleagues’ observations and suggestions. As examples I include a recent peer observation report by a current colleague and also a sample of my own feedback to peers from my time at the OU. Team meetings are also useful venues for sharing good practice, and my colleagues and I typically hold briefing sessions on any training we have attended.

I try to keep up with research in educational theory, using the academic resources available to me through the University of Sheffield. My approach to teaching is eclectic and I am always ready to pick up hints for new approaches, methods, and resources. In particular, I am interested in developmental psychology and dual-process approaches to cognitive development (see publication [4] in my CV).

With regard to ancillary courses, I am very lucky to have worked for several years for the Open University, an institution committed to innovation in teaching methods, resources, and technology. During my time with the OU I took numerous in-house training courses, including ones in diversity, course design, accessibility, online conferencing, ICT in courses, e-tuition and online tutoring, and mentoring (see my Learning and Development record. In my current post in-house training opportunities are more limited, but I have benefited from courses in team-working and new technology such as interactive whiteboards.

Recently, I have begun to explore online teaching resources and communities, which afford valuable opportunities for CPD and sharing of good practice (for more on this, see the Professional Development section). I have also expanded my own online presence, creating a personal website and blog, Live Learning, where I post reflections on teaching practice, comments on education policy, and discussions of philosophical topics. Readers can leave comments on my posts and this promises to be a useful forum for discussion.

I have also had valuable opportunities to extend my skills by developing new teaching methods and resources. I will mention two instances, both from my time at the OU.

The first involved piloting e-tuition on a major OU philosophy course, as an alternative to traditional face-to-face tutorials (which present access problems for some students). I was contracted to organize the pilot and also to teach on it as an Associate Lecturer. This was a hugely valuable experience for me, during which I learnt how to rethink face-to-face teaching methods for an online environment and got to grips with the technology for both synchronous and asynchronous conferencing. See my report on the pilot, which also includes student feedback and samples of my teaching materials.

A second opportunity involved writing course material for OU students. To combat the high drop-out rate on its foundation course, the Philosophy Department decided to prepare an introductory booklet to give prospective students a taste of philosophy and help them prepare for the course. After a draft from another academic was rejected, I was asked to prepare this material, which I did with pleasure. Again, the experience was highly instructive. Like all OU course material my draft had to go through a process of rigorous peer review, and I learned much about writing distance-learning material and preparing self-assessment exercises. (See the resulting booklet and Dr Nigel Warburton’s comments on it.) Although the course for which the material was originally written is no longer presented, the OU still offers my booklet as a free stand-alone module on its OpenLean site.