Role of the teacher

Staff who teach in the university describe their role as:

• a guide to development of the subject expertise
• a mentor of intellectual development
• an inspirational role-model.

Our teaching reflects this understanding of what the teacher does, and the partnership with students in the learning process.

Which role is adopted at which time depends on the level of study, how we want students to develop, and the type of teaching activities in which they are engaging.

Postgraduate teaching assistants

Alongside academic staff we often encourage our postgraduate students to play a role in undergraduate education. There are recognised benefits for both parties in their learning together including:

• postgraduates gain good experience in explaining and communication skills that will be valuable in their future careers
• a postgraduate student leading a seminar is usually right up-to-date with the latest research on the topic
• the level of effort and enthusiasm that postgraduate students put into their preparation has a positive impact for the undergraduates
• undergraduates often see postgraduate students as more approachable and they can play an important intermediary role, especially in larger groups.

In these ways, postgraduates act in a complementary role to augment the contact with academic staff.