12:00 pm - 2:00 pm 18/03/2026
Hosted by Kelly Smith (Birmingham University) and Lucy Hatt (Newcastle University)
Why this session, why now?
Education-focused colleagues are often told to “do scholarship”, but what counts as research and what counts as scholarship, what’s valued, and how it supports progression can feel unclear (and inconsistent across institutions). This session creates a shared language and practical way to map your work, clarify expectations, and strengthen how you evidence impact and value.
Who’s it for?
- Education-focused / teaching-focused academics and professional staff in Higher Education
- Colleagues navigating research vs scholarship expectations, workload/contractual definitions, and recognition
- Anyone preparing for (or supporting others with) promotion, appraisal, probation, or role redesign
- Leaders, mentors, and developers responsible for education career pathways
What will you learn?
By the end of the session, you will be able to:
- Differentiate “research” and “scholarship” in ways that are useful for your context (and explainable to others)
- Use the Description of Activities Relating to Scholarship in Higher Education (DARSHE) framework (Gann & Hulme, 2025) to locate and describe your scholarship activity with confidence
- Identify how your institution’s systems shape what is recognised and rewarded
- Translate your work into clearer evidence for progression (if that’s your goal)
- Strengthen your professional identity and your ability to advocate for the value you bring
What’s included?
A highly interactive, structured 2-hour online session featuring:
Three themed, facilitated breakouts with practical prompts:
- Contract: how your institution differentiates research and scholarship, where you’re expected to operate day-to-day
- Progression: what works (and doesn’t) in your context; what you may need to do more of to get where you want
- Identity: articulating the value of your contribution and improving recognition within and beyond your institution
Practical takeaways you can use immediately
- A clearer way to position your education-focused work using a recognised framework (DARSHE)
- Language and prompts to support appraisal/promotion conversations
- Peer insight into how other institutions interpret and reward scholarship
- A realistic mindset shift: change what you can; where you can’t, learn how to make the system work for you
Session structure
- 12:00 Introductions, aims, stories, DARSHE, set-up + initial value poll
- 12:30 Breakout: Contract + brief plenary
- 12:50 Breakout: Progression + brief plenary
- 13:10 Breakout: Identity + brief plenary
- 13:30 Closing plenary, Q&A, personal actions, closing value poll
- 14:00 End
Reference
Gann, R. J., & Hulme, J. A. (2025). Scholarship reimagined: creating the DARSHE, an inclusive and flexible framework for developing scholarship in higher education. Higher Education, 1-18.