AHC staff scoop University Teaching Awards
Staff in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures have won several University of Leeds Teaching awards
Staff in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures have won several University of Leeds Teaching awards.
Now in their fourth year, these prestigious accolades are a celebration of excellent practice in student education, as well as the work and innovation of colleagues to deliver high-quality teaching and learning at Leeds. Awards are given for both individual and collaborative innovation and contribution.
In the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, Dr Arjun Khara in the School of Design won the Early Career Excellence award, and Sophia Martinho and Dr Martin Ward in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies both picked up Sustained Excellence awards.
A full of the award winners can be found here.
I am incredibly proud that Arjun, Martin and Sophia have been recognised for their excellence. All three bring together outstanding educational practice with scholarship and research to make a tangible impact on students and colleagues.
Professor Jeff Grabill, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Education, said:
“Congratulations to you, the winners of our 2024 University of Leeds Teaching Awards. It’s an honour to share space with such innovative, inspirational educators.
“At Leeds, we’re committed to providing our students with the best learning experience, and that experience must prepare them for their future and empower them to make the difference they want to make in the world. That requires inspiring educators who support students as they explore their passions, articulate their goals and ambitions, and take their first steps to realise them.
“Your work makes the Leeds Curriculum come alive for students, and ensures they are able to engage fully in their course, their future and our world. Thank you for continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible, for empowering our students to be their best selves, and for everything you do.”
Dr Arjun Khara said:
“Winning an Early Career Award for Teaching from the University of Leeds is a truly incredible experience. The award is specially dedicated to my wonderful students and colleagues at the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Culture — people from whom I draw limitless amounts of inspiration and motivation. I’m excited about using the award monies towards those dream projects out there that bring about even greater appreciation of the humanities as fundamental focal points for asking, and answering, the big and little questions we encounter each day.
“My work fuses philosophies of fairness and care aesthetics with design and technology. I explore how we can extract more meaningful experiences from society, systems, and interactions through other-regarding approaches. This led me to re-imagine the relationships between care aesthetics and design pedagogies as powerful pathways to engage learners on multiple levels. My teaching methods thus centre around drawing students’ attention to the specialness of everyday lived moments as touchpoints for deeper learning encounters. Winning the Early Career Award for Teaching truly reaffirmed this approach, and gives me the confidence to continue my work.”
Sophia Martinho is the co-founder and President of TROPO UK (Association of Researchers and Teachers of Portuguese Language), the leading platform for sharing best practice and discussing SoLT in Portuguese Language Education. She said:
“My initiative and leadership was pivotal in creating The Language Scholar, an innovative international journal dedicated to the SoLT in Language Education, which helped initiate and develop a culture of scholarship in her School, inspiring colleagues to start their own scholarly journey in Language Education. Committed to staff professionalization, I have pro-actively organized conferences, CPD sessions and training days for language educators, and as a dedicated advocate for language learning in the UK, I frequently lead outreach and policy-related activities.
“It’s an incredible honour to receive this award. Learning and teaching have been my passion for many years and Student Education is central to my academic identity. I feel privileged to work at Leeds, such a supportive environment for those of us dedicated to improving the student journey. My pedagogy strives to empower language students to develop their confidence and broaden their horizons. I truly believe that languages play a vital role in the development of open-minded global citizens. I look forward to many more years working to improve language pedagogy together with colleagues and students, and I hope this award gives visibility to the important work of all language practitioners.”
Dr Martin Ward said:
“I’m deeply humbled to receive this award and thankful for the recognition it grants to key areas of my practice. This inspires me to continue to develop ways in which our students can access inclusive, collaborative global learning opportunities and have a truly global experience on campus. The award recognises my commitment to supporting the development of colleagues, forming and sustaining international communities of my practice in my discipline, and spearheading the intentional scaling up of collaborative online international learning (COIL) at Leeds.”
The award winners will gather for a celebratory event with colleagues in September to officially recognise their success.
