When Nick Freestone was named Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year, he was ¡°dumbfounded¡±.

But the Society of Biology accolade was not a one-off. Among other achievements, Dr Freestone, associate professor and course director for undergraduate pharmaceutical science at Kingston University, has been named Kingston¡¯s most engaging lecturer, is a senior fellow and academic associate of the Higher Education Academy, a fellow of the Society of Biology and holder of a postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education.

How has he achieved such heights when it is research that most often wins a person recognition in the academy? He attributes it to a drive for self-improvement that was spurred by his gaining a lectureship.

¡°I had spent five years [doing research] in a dark room on my own looking down a microscope,¡± he said. ¡°I got a job on the basis of that experience, then was thrown in front of 200-300 students. My skill set was not completely attuned to the job I had been given.¡±

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Traditionally, he said, lecturers have to learn on the job. Some, ¡°if they¡¯re lucky¡±, have a mentor. For most, however, it is a case of ¡°chuck them in at the deep end and see if they float¡±.

¡°I took a conscious decision ¨C when I realised that I had so many students and so many responsibilities and [not] too much time for discipline-specific research ¨C that I would [lean] towards the learning and teaching aspects of the role.¡±

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This decision motivated him to develop his pedagogical knowledge and skills, because ¨C despite having a PhD ¨C he was ¡°completely unversed¡± in the theory of teaching and saw no other way to learn what he needed.

Universities are taking steps to professionalise teaching ¨C a senior fellowship at the HEA is now required for some roles and these may be tied to the UK Professional Standards Framework ¨C but Dr Freestone feels that there is much work to do to help aspiring teachers and to give them reason to take the job as seriously as research.

¡°There¡¯s no incentive to answer those emails [from students] at 7pm on a Friday night,¡± he said. ¡°It might be changing subtly, but at the minute you don¡¯t really get promoted on the basis of good pedagogical practice.¡±

The sector has ¡°struggled with this issue for 30 years¡± but has not ¡°really made much progress¡±. He said that while the awarding of prizes for teaching was important, teaching excellence ¡°has to be linked to promotion¡±.

He advises fellow academics to get involved with the HEA. His experiences with it have been ¡°fantastic¡±, he said, and the meetings and resources available were ¡°very supportive, collaborative and collegial¡±.

Dr Freestone also recommended that every department have an ¡°expert in the education of that discipline¡±. ¡°That¡¯s not very common in the sector, and that¡¯s what I would like to see in the future,¡± he said.

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john.elmes@tsleducation.com