I’ll wager that there will many people putting together a PFHEA application who haven’t taught for years (perhaps never), but they will be perfectly entitled to do so according to the criteria – relating to support, scholarship, championing and leadership with respect to L and T. In which case - in practice – there may be little difference there between an FSEDA and PFHEA.  Indeed - to push the point - in a purely hypothetical dilemma where I was forced to pick one individual to be on my L and T team without knowing anything else about them I might well go for the FSEDA holder.



But, with regard to the HESA categories overall – faced with a similar dilemma – I think I’d rather go for PFHEA than the holder of a PGCE primary or secondary – no disrespect to those people – because of the PFHEA holder’s knowledge and understanding of the broader HE landscape – its aims and purpose, etc.



In which case I think the HESA form is just too much of a dog’s breakfast to be much use to us, and at the risk of sounding a bit dramatic I think we all need to try a hold a line on that more serious underpinning issue  - trying to resist the crude race to credentialism.  Yes, a fully qualified workforce sounds great, but surely what we all want (i.e. the followers on this list) is one rooted in a sound notion of professionalism not just professionalisation?



Speaking as a holder of a teaching qualification, an FSEDA and a PFHEA I treated all those exercises as genuine CPD exercises, and not as badge holding exercises. And if and when I’m asked to act as a guardian and gatekeeper on all three fronts I’d like to think I could clearly tell the difference between someone who is just paying lip-service to the exercises and someone who is genuinely engaged in a CPD exercise.  



We have a duty - blimey, I’m sounding dramatic again…



John



John Lea

Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit

Canterbury Christ Church University

________________________________________

From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Ellen [[log in to unmask]]

Sent: 18 March 2014 22:38

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: Does FSEDA count as equal to FHEA?



Thank you for a very clear and thorough response! Very helpful.



On Monday, March 17, 2014, Stephen Bostock <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Hi Peter



SEDA fellowships are deliberately not aligned to the UKPSF. They are professional qualifications in academic (staff/educational) development, for members of a professional association. FHEA is a teaching qualification, as QAA describes it, for teachers, not developers.



Of course there is an overlap, between SFHEA and FSEDA, and between PFHEA and SFSEDA especially, so I expect most people with the SEDA fellowship at those levels would have no trouble getting the equivalent HEA fellowship.



In the past SEDA fellows were given FHEA by the HEA (and then I got a second for an NTF!). Which implies that a SEDA Fellowship more than demonstrates UKPSF descriptor 2.



Hope that helps. If your institution really requires you to get a teaching qualification, in addition to an academic developer qualification, then it looks like you may need to do a PGCert or get the FHEA (unless someone out there in the HEA would like to offer FHEA’s to SEDA Fellows again? That would be practically helpful.)



An afterthought:

Of course, there is also the issue of good standing, much discussed recently, and at the HEDG meeting on Friday last, with Professor Philippa Levy, Deputy Chief Executive (Academic Practice), Higher Education Academy. In the discussion I was asked about SEDA Fellowships and good standing. I replied that, yes, SEDA fellows have to demonstrate good standing annually, by a reflective report peer assessed in triads. And yes, if that is not done for 2 years running, you lose your fellowship until you return to good standing.



My personal view after the discussion at HEDG (SEDA has no view at the moment)  was that good standing for FHEA cannot work: the HEA will not remove fellowships from individuals (they have their certificate), and the institution that provided the accredited programme/scheme to gain the FHEA also cannot remove it on behalf of the HEA. ‘Good standing’ has little meaning if it cannot be removed. We will have to see how reference to good standing in the re-accreditation of institutional schemes can be interpreted so that something positive can result in terms of encouraging widespread, regular CPD in relation to teaching. Which we all want.



I mention good standing not to provoke another mammoth discussion but because I think it illustrates the fact that FHEA and FSEDA are quite different. The former is a teaching qualification, and recorded by HESA as such; the latter is a professional qualification for members of a professional association (and FHEAs are not members of the HEA). Both are important to their respective but different audiences.



SEDA is very  positive about UKPSF, and indeed has accredited two of its own awards for teachers (PDF-LTA and  PDF-SL) against it, and so they can recorded in HESA returns for teaching qualifications. These SEDA awards are very like AFHEA and FHEA, they are teaching qualifications accredited against UKPSF, and with no good standing requirement. They are thus also quite distinct and different from SEDA Fellowships.



Stephen



Dr Stephen Bostock BSc MSc PhD FHEA NTF SFSEDA

Co-chair of SEDA

Head of the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Assessment

Glyndŵr University, Wrexham, Wales UK

[log in to unmask] is my private email address



From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lake, Peter

Sent: 17 March 2014 17:04

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Does FSEDA count as equal to FHEA?



Hello all



I wonder if others are seeing the same position being taken by their institutions. In the understandable push to meet a university KPI setting the percentage of staff to be accredited we are being told:



Accredited teaching qualifications comprise



(i)                PGC in Learning and Teaching in HE (awarded on or after 1996)



(ii)               (ii) the equivalent from another HE institution or



(iii)              (iii) recognition as a Fellow of the HEA (FHEA). Nothing else meets the university KPI.



Surely FSEDA trumps FHEA?!



Are we aware of any UK-wide guidance that could be used to persuade our institution that SEDA fellowship is just as valid? Or do I really have to get HEA fellowship as well?



Thanks

Peter