TVU lecturers awarded National Teaching Fellowships

Thames Valley University (TVU) Events Management lecturer Graham Berridge has been awarded the National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy, one of the most prestigious awards for excellence in higher education teaching.

50 award winners were chosen from nearly 200 nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England and Northern Ireland, each winner receives an award of £10,000. The award may be used for Fellows’ professional development in teaching and learning.

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is part of an overall Academy programme to raise the status of learning and teaching in higher education. It recognises and celebrates individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience.
Graham Berridge has been at the forefront of the emergence of event management in higher education and is a founding member of the Association of Events Management Education (AEME) and the Event Design Research Network (EDRN). Graham’s background in events comes from previously working in community festivals and galas, through to national and international sports events. He brought this knowledge into teaching, motivated by a desire to enhance the educational experience of his learners.

He is best known for ‘breaking the mould’ of event management textbooks and for promoting the use of design and experience frameworks as a platform for study. His ideas and research in this area were presented in a 2007 book, Events design and experience, published by Elsevier, which has influenced national and international colleagues to broaden their teaching and learning approach to embrace these key factors.

Graham has used these ideas as the bedrock for developing learning techniques to present a more dynamic learning environment, for example incorporating emotional intelligence as a mechanism to encourage and motivate learners to both create and analyse event experiences. In particular his use of material and examples from cycling, such as the Tour de France, is unique, and this approach gives a real-world context to his teaching. His enthusiastic delivery has met with universal praise and his style of teaching gives his students an edge when seeking to develop their post-education careers. One of Graham’s students said:

’Graham’s accessibility, perception and knowledge of the event industry make him indispensable and a great inspiration to event students.’

Graham is always actively seeking to enhance teaching and learning in events. In 2008 he was awarded a Research in Teaching Excellence (RiTE) sabbatical to research the practices of bidding and pitching for event contracts. In 2009 he was awarded a Work-based Learning Fellowship to develop a continuous personal and professional development course in event training.

‘Graham’s accessibility, perception and knowledge of the event industry make him indispensable and a great inspiration to event students.’

Graham commented on how thrilled he was to receive this award, he said:

‘Obviously I’m both delighted and surprised to get the award. But it’s pleasing to know that my work is helping develop a new subject area, event management education, over the past 5-10 years to be recognised on a national level. It will also be a big plus to use any funding to enhance my research and teaching in the events design field.’

Professor Sue Law, Director of Academic Practice at the Academy comments:
‘I am delighted to congratulate our new National Teaching Fellows: their commitment and dedication to supporting learning, teaching and working to maximise student potential is most impressive. Good teaching is the cornerstone of a positive student experience; we at the Academy work to support HE teachers in delivering a world-class service to their students.’

Tags: Event Magazine, Events Management, National Teaching Fellowships, Thames Valley University, TVU

Category: Event Awards