What is the Teaching Excellence Alliance?

Published on June 18, 2018

• Blog

1. Alliance universities have developed areas of collective distinctiveness in learning and teaching which focuses on sustained student success in professional and technical education.
2. The Teaching Excellence Alliance (TEA) seeks to enhance and promote this approach, at a time when scrutiny of teaching performance, value for money and skills gaps and productivity are high on the political agenda.
3. The TEA recognises that sustained student success in professional and technical education is achieved through the expertise and commitment of individual teaching staff, of innovative course design teams, and of institution-level interventions.
4. The TEA is made up of three interconnected strands of activity to enhance and develop UA teaching & learning:
   • Shared and new CPD for teaching staff and those that enable teaching, to provide support for staff members to remain in good standing.
   • A critical friend function – known as the Peer Review College (PRC) – that will provide support and challenge to members e.g. on professional practice and course design, and provide development opportunities for PRC members.
   • Special interest groups that will support institution-wide enhancements such as assessment and feedback practices and graduate attributes/ employability.

Strategic objectives:

5. To develop students equipped with the skills and aptitudes to succeed in a world shaped by next generation technology;
6. To demonstrate that Alliance universities are world leaders in professional and technical education for sustained student success; and
7. Ultimately, through evidencing our success and demonstrating our approach delivers better outcomes for some students, to retain a competitive edge in the sector as evidenced in increased policy influence, secure funding, prestige and student numbers.

The TEA model

8. The following principles will be embedded across TEA activities:
   • Expertise: Strive to use expertise from across partners in all TEA activities, for mutual enhancement.
   • Alliance Distinctiveness: Foster the distinctive UA approach to technical and professional education which underpins our excellence.
   • Student Participation: Value and include students wherever possible in TEA activities.
   • Employer Involvement: Include employers wherever possible in TEA activities.
   • Interdisciplinarity: Stretch and challenge current practice by involving different disciplines.

For more information please visit www.unialliance.ac.uk/tea or email tea@www.unialliance.ac.uk