Reading Lecturer awarded national teaching fellowship

Dr Julian Park, Senior Lecturer and School Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading, has been awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Park is just one of 50 lecturers and learning support staff to be awarded the fellowship this year, which recognises excellence in teaching and learning and celebrates individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience. Each winner will receive an award of £10,000 which may be used for their personal and/or professional development in teaching and learning.

Julian is a great advocate of fieldwork and learning outside the classroom. He believes this offers students the opportunity to hone their research skills in a learning environment which is both stimulating and often socially rewarding for both students and staff.

Dr Park said: "I'm pleased to receive this award and would like to thank colleagues in Agriculture, Policy and Development, CDOTL and CSTD for their support in helping to develop my teaching and learning knowledge and skills in recent years."

The new Fellows come from universities throughout England and Northern Ireland. Higher education institutions in England and Northern Ireland were able to nominate up to three staff who could demonstrate excellence in supporting the student learning experience in HE.

Professor Richard Ellis, Head of the University's School of Agriculture, Policy and Development said: "I'd like to congratulate Julian who is an accomplished and experienced university teacher and is recognised as a leading authority on issues of rural and sustainable development within agriculture.

"He is strongly committed to raising standards of university teaching and learning, not just his own but also that of colleagues within this School, the University of Reading and more widely. Julian uses a wide variety of approaches in his teaching, both modern and long established, to stimulate and motivate students and their evaluation of his teaching is uniformly high. He is a worthy recipient of the award."

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS), launched in 2000, is part of an overall programme to raise the status of learning and teaching in Higher Education. Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI), the scheme comprises two strands, Individual National Teaching Fellowship Awards and Projects.

The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony and dinner in London on 24 September.