APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
QUB TEACHING AWARDS
APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
(Open to individual academic and learning support colleagues who have been
teaching/supporting learning within higher education for 5 or more years)
Contact details
Name (including title): Professor
School/Department:
Mark Thornton Burnett
English
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APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
1.
CONTEXT FOR THE APPLICATION (300 words maximum)
Please provide a context for your application. This should consist of an introductory statement about
your contribution to learning and teaching/learning support to date. Examples of the information you
might include are; the subject you teach or the area of learning support you work in, the type of learning
and teaching/learning support activities you are involved in, how many learners are involved, your
particular learning and teaching/learning support interests and an outline of your overall
teaching/learning support philosophy?
I have been teaching at QUB for 23 years and have always regarded teaching and research as inseparable.
I teach at all levels of the School, including team-teaching at Stages 1 and 2 and research-led modules at
Stage 3 and MA. At Stage 3, my module is among the most popular in the School and has attracted praise
from a succession of external examiners. At MA level, I have pioneered a new programme, taught
between QUB and UCD, which has increased module offerings and student numbers. I also take seriously
my PhD supervisions, and my track-record of successful completions and job placements is exemplary.
My teaching and research focus on the English Renaissance – the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe. It is a
privilege to teach this period, but this also brings its own challenges. For me, these challenges must be
met in a student-led learning environment which balances subject-specific knowledge with the acquisition
of transferable skills. My methods for achieving this balance – in a student-led environment – will be
discussed in 2a in relation to my Stage 3 module, ‘Reading Shakespeare Historically’ (which has been
running, albeit in an ever-developing format, since 2000).
My teaching has received excellent feedback from students and has led to invitations to disseminate my
methods. I have written two best-selling textbooks (cited in 2b). More recently, in 2011, I was invited to
talk about my teaching on the National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute for college and
university teachers at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC. I find opportunities like these are
a wonderful way of reflecting on my teaching and the ways in which it has continued to develop. Hence, I
was pleased to contribute a chapter on teaching, entitled ‘Teaching Shakespeare Historically’, in the
Palgrave collection, Teaching the Early Modern Period (2011).
2.
DISCUSSION
You should illustrate your discussion throughout with reference to specific learning and teaching/learning
support activities. You should also provide examples of the influence of learner feedback on your
learning and teaching/learning support practice.
(a)
Promoting and enhancing the learners’ experience (1000 words maximum)
My Stage 3 research-led module, ‘Reading Shakespeare Historically’, is challenging in several ways.
Firstly, ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘History’ are equally prioritized, which means that students have to get to grips
with a wide range of unfamiliar materials (including early printed pamphlets and ballads) and learn how
to relate these to a series of Shakespearean plays and poems. From the start, I flag up three elements of
critical engagement – textual (how to read a play), historical (how to deploy historical evidence) and
theoretical (how to be self-conscious regarding approach). Because I believe that students learn best by
doing, I encourage a student-led method, using every opportunity to keep students active. An active
learning environment is, I find, the best way in which to nurture transferable skills (in particular, critical
thinking, creativity, and written and oral communication). For me, as tutor, a growing confidence is
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APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
palpable in the classroom, while feedback highlights students’ own sense of the extent to which they have
grown over the course of the semester.
Given the module’s ambitions, orientation is essential. The first session centres on creating active
learners. ‘What is history, and where can we find it?’ are the open questions posed as I distribute course
materials. The context pack – which comprises extracts, illustrations, citations, lists of further reading,
and so on – is a first port of call. I focus attention on relevant passages and, in this way, a question that
frequently occurs – how, exactly, do we historicize at the level of an argument? – is confronted early on
via practical examples. Important here is my stress on the fact that the context pack represents a startingpoint only. I also direct attention to areas of the library, to collections of facsimiles, to early printed book
holdings and, most importantly, to Early English Books on Line (EEBO), an online resource that makes
available the wealth of early modern literature and culture. This resource, in conjunction with resources
available at the McClay Library, holds out infinite possibilities for contextualization, and taking full
advantage of this technology has been one of the major ways in which this module has developed and
been refined. One group exercise invites students to pick topics out of a hat – and then withdraw in pairs –
to select a salient and stimulating EEBO example. Crucial in these activities is having students value not
just the ‘what’ but also the ‘how’ of discovery.
Orientation is inseparable from the assumption of certain kinds of student responsibility. At Stages 1 and
2, teaching is organized around tutorials and lectures, an arrangement that makes for a two-pronged ‘go’
at a particular text. By Stage 3, however, students are given a stand-alone seminar, with the result that
time needs to be spent on easing the way into a new – and more individually-oriented – teaching
situation. Encouraging responsibility is the module requirement of a seminar presentation (worth 10%)
from every student. Students compose two to four pages of questions, comment and pertinent contextual
‘finds’ that are distributed, in advance, to the rest of the class. For the accompanying oral presentation, I
encourage interactivity by stressing the need explicitly to engage the class. The significance of the
provision of material to the other members of the class is explained as follows – each presentation
represents a potential body of evidence to be taken up in later endeavours. If each student completes
his/her presentation, the class will possess, by the end of the semester, a file that can be marshalled in the
assessed essay. Feedback suggests that students value the ways in which individual pieces feed into a
final compilation; each member of the class can shape, and have an effect on, the writing process.
Students learn to appreciate that they are working not just for themselves but also for each other.
The need to read according to theoretical templates is impressed upon students in the session devoted to
writing skills. As well as seeing students individually, I offer a group discussion, having assembled a
generalized list of the positive and less positive aspects of work submitted for formative assessment. This
has the advantage of de-individuating students (everything is anonymous) while, at the same time,
opening up a group dialogue and a concomitant sense of a shared enterprise. For example, in reflecting
upon how we describe ‘character’ inside ‘history’, two statements might be contrasted – ‘Hal is
constructed as fundamentally determined by the anxieties of his time’ and ‘Hal is worried about his
family and inheritance’. Notably, the statements are presented not as wrong and right but as examples for
students actively to adjudicate between. Debate introduces an element of peer-assessment into the writing
process as well as alerting students to the need for due reflection as the summative writing process begins.
No less important to the acquisition of skills is the sample model essay (an exercise I agreed to try rather
reluctantly, at the urging of a particular student, but now value tremendously). The sample essays are
anonymous, either belonging to a now-graduated student or a critic. We discuss the essay as a group,
pointing out its flaws and merits. At stake, as well as the honing of critical skills, is a confrontation with
authority: students are more ready to value their own contribution if they see its features reproduced
elsewhere. A process of decentring is encouraged at the same time: critics, this exercise invariably
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APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
suggests, are the prompts to further insights rather than the embodiment of an opinion that cannot be
contested.
Assessments (3000 word essay and class presentation) use a wide range of contexts and materials drawn
from EEBO and elsewhere – sometimes not even known to me! Examiners have consistently praised the
depth and density of materials enlisted, the fact that students are generally knowledgeable, the selfconsciousness of approach, and the agility and nimbleness with which students integrate text and history.
One examiner describes the module as a ‘model in the field of Renaissance studies’. Most gratifyingly,
there is much evidence that students carry their skills forward into the next semester’s classes and
assessments.
(b)
Supporting colleagues and influencing support for student and/or staff learning
(350 words maximum)
I have always participated actively in education strategy and, at some point, have held most educationrelated posts. Putting research and teaching on an equal footing has been something of a mission – at the
time of application, I am both Stage One Convenor and Director of Research. In the first role, I oversee
all Stage One teaching offerings, liaise with teaching assistants, facilitate SSCC discussion and moderate
examinations, ensuring that staff and students are provided with appropriate support. I hope that my
enthusiasm for doing this job alongside the School’s key research post has demonstrated that both roles
are important. Indeed, the positions complement each other, particularly with respect to nationallydefined ‘quality’ benchmarks.
I regularly convene at Stages 1 and 2 and value a reflective practice in my team. While Stage One
Convenor, I held review meetings during which I would distribute examples of graded essays and models
for tutorial work. More generally, I mentor younger colleagues via my membership of probation
committees and a practical pedagogical involvement in the development of PhD students. With PhD
students, alongside underscoring the relevant research goals, I aim to produce a cohort of teacher-scholars
eminently equipped in terms of the academic marketplace. More broadly, I am a passionate proponent of
the peer review system for teaching in the School.
I believe that a continued engagement with national pedagogical practice is crucially instructive. Through
my external examining roles (Birmingham, Exeter, Reading and Warwick) I have taken to other
institutions examples of QUB best practice. At Reading, I promoted the usefulness of the ‘masterclass’ as
an aid to develop undergraduates’ oral skills; at Exeter, I argued for a more sustained use of EEBO as an
instrument for encouraging enquiry.
On the international stage, as well as engaging colleagues on pedagogy in India and the US (see 2c), I
have produced two textbooks. Reconceiving the Renaissance (OUP, 2005) is organized around innovative
ways of teaching the Renaissance to undergraduates and graduates, while my edition of The Complete
Plays of Christopher Marlowe (Everyman, 1999) makes the plays accessible for an undergraduate
audience. Both books have been widely adopted.
(c)
Ongoing professional development (350 words maximum)
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APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
It is impossible, of course, to reflect on the practice of others, and to share one’s own good practice,
without learning and developing oneself. Two practical examples – in my School, a recent peer review
session made me aware of mutually-held teaching interests in Indian film and literature, which have
generated, in turn, successful student applications to the University of Hyderabad/QUB exchange scheme
and my proposal for a formal link with St Stephen’s College, Delhi. Similarly, the QUB/UCD
Renaissance MA programme has stimulated me to be aware of the benefits that accrue to students when
they are able to embrace possibilities for a widening of module access and experience a team teaching
approach which extends beyond the borders of one’s own institution. More generally, during periods of
external examining, I have learned more about levels of student work, contact hours, module resources,
feedback and the double-dissertation as a platform for MA study, and have adjusted my own pedagogy in
response.
Within and beyond QUB, I pursue training opportunities. I attend teaching workshops at conferences and
found a Leadership Foundation course illuminating in terms of how best to inspire colleagues to take on
new challenges and work as a team. I feel it is vital keep abreast of new pedagogical materials. For
example, the online journal from the British Shakespeare Association, Teaching Shakespeare – which
highlights contributions not only from university lecturers but also from school teachers and theatre
practitioners – has made me realize that I have much to learn from creative artists in the field.
While participating in the Folger Shakespeare Library educational and outreach programme, I ensured
that I attended the sessions of the other guest faculty, not least those devoted to Shakespeare and the
online media environment. This has already impacted on my teaching. For example, a recent development
in ‘Reading Shakespeare Historically’ is the opportunity for role play in ‘Second Life: Shakespeare’ and
experimentation with costuming, casting and performance.
To conclude, I may have been teaching for a long time, but I am still learning, still responsive to new
strategies, and always striving to keep my pedagogy under review.
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APPLICATION FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE TEACHING AWARD 2012
Teaching Awards 2012
Criteria Profile
The following are suggestions of the type of information you might wish to include in your analytical
application - it is not an exhaustive list. You may also wish to draw upon educational literature within
your application.
Evidence of
Promoting and enhancing the learners’
experience



how you stimulate and inspire learners
how you develop, organise and present
resources
how you assess learners appropriately
Evidence of
Supporting colleagues and influencing
support for learning
 ways in which you contribute to the
development of colleagues within your
area
 how you contribute to institutional
initiatives
 your contribution to
regional/national/international initiatives
Evidence of
Ongoing professional development
 professional development activities
undertaken
 how you have used these activities to
review and enhance your practice
 how this has led to improvements for
your learners.
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