This is the ILT's February briefing for the Funding Councils, the DfES,
Universities UK, SCoP and other stakeholder organisations.  It may be freely
circulated or published.  Please pass it on to anyone who may be interested
in receiving it within your own organisation and contact me if you would
like more detailed information on any of the items mentioned.

Andrea L. T. Rayner
Assistant Director: External Relations
Institute for Learning and Teaching (ILT)
Tel: 01904 434025
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ilt.ac.uk

FEBRUARY 2002 BRIEFING FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING (ILT)

*       The ILT has concluded an agreement with the General Teaching Council
for England (GTCE) which allows teacher educators to apply via a direct
route for immediate membership of the ILT.  The GTCE had approached the ILT
with a proposal that gaining Qualified Teacher Status and registration with
the GTCE were equivalent to completing one of the ILT's accredited routes to
membership.  The Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET),
Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals (SCOP) were
co-sponsors of the application. Currently, the agreement will only apply to
those teacher educators working in England who are registered with the GTCE,
but it is hoped that it will soon be possible to extend the arrangement to
teacher educators in the rest of the UK.  The ILT is continuing to work with
other professional bodies to extend the benefits of ILT membership to their
own members in HE.
*       82 nominations for the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS)
were received by the closing date of 15 February.  The ILT is managing the
scheme, which rewards excellence in teaching with 20 Fellowships each worth
£50,000, for its third year on behalf of the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Employment and Learning
in Northern Ireland.  The nominations cover a wide range of HE institutions
and disciplines, ranging from Archaeoastronomy to Vocal Studies.  The full
list of nominations can be seen on the relaunched NTFS website at
http://www.ntfs.ac.uk.
*       The ILT has published for consultation a Draft Continuing
Professional Development Framework for its members, which has been developed
following a series of consultations with members, HE institutions and other
professional bodies.  The Framework is intended to assist members to plan,
record and comment on their CPD in relation to teaching and the support of
learning.  Members are invited to consider how they would react to its
inclusion within the ILT's criteria for ongoing membership.  The comments
received by the ILT in relation to this application of the pilot CPD
Framework will inform discussions within Council and the Executive to take
forward a more formal consultation process with the membership as to how CPD
should be integrated into the activity and structure of the ILT. The Draft
Framework can be viewed at http://cpd.ilt.ac.uk/CPDDraft2002/Intro.html.  
*       Over 110 bookings have been received to date for the ILT's 2002
Annual Conference and more than 140 session proposals have been submitted,
the majority of them online.  Over half the Conference places have now been
filled.  The Conference, which will be held from 26-28 June at Heriot-Watt
University, is based on the theme of Learning about Learning.  Full details
and booking forms can be found at http://www.ilt.ac.uk/iltac2002/index.html.
*       The ILT's international journal, Active Learning in Higher
Education, has been so successful in attracting subscriptions and articles
that from 2002 it will increase its frequency of publication from two to
three issues per year.  Comments from readers have included: 'Active
Learning in Higher Education is one of the most exciting additions to the
literature related to teaching and learning in higher education.  The
articles are well-written, bring scholarship into the art of teaching in
higher education and provide examples of best practice in learning and
teaching.' (Di Marks-Maran, Thames Valley University).
*       Members' Regional Network Forums continue to be popular and well
attended, with around 40 members attending the South Central Forum on 13
February and the North East Forum on 21 February.  A special Network Forum
for Librarians was held on 12 February at the Surrey Institute of Art &
Design.  A joint workshop with the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)
on Getting published in the academic domain was held on 5 February at
Manchester Metropolitan University.  Another joint workshop on Students with
disabilities: issues and strategies for learning and teaching staff is
planned in collaboration with TechDis (the Technology for Disabilities
Information Service) on 12 March at Spring Hill College, Birmingham.  A full
list of Members' Forums is available on the website at
http://www.ilt.ac.uk/events/regional_forums.htm.  Programmes are normally
placed on the website one month ahead of the event.
*       At the meeting of the Small Grants Sub-Committee on 18 February
quarterly reports were received from the 16 recipients of Small Grants from
the ILT's 2001 scheme.  The panel was generally delighted with the
activities of the award recipients to date and will be writing to each of
them individually with feedback.