Once you have been invited to join a REx pathway group, you can enrol. To do so, you will need to complete the REx pathway enrolment form, attaching two documents: your Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool feedback and your draft context statement.
To obtain the first document, you have to complete Advance HE’s free online Fellowship Category Tool. Answering the online questions about your higher education teaching and/or support for learning practice should:
- assist you in selecting the category of Fellowship that is the closest match to your current practice
- prompt your thinking about different aspects of your practice as you plan your application.
The Fellowship Category Tool consists of a set of statements that are aligned to the different Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF 2023) Dimensions and Descriptors. This self-analysis tool will ask about your professional activities in teaching and/or supporting learning in higher education (HE).
Please note that the accuracy of the tool depends on your own self-reflection and interpretation of the statements. When you have completed all the sections in the online tool, you will be emailed a PDF report with feedback. Save this file so that you can attach it to your REx pathway enrolment form.
Learn more about what experience and evidence is considered under PSF 2023
The PSF 2023 sets out the professional standards for higher education (HE). All the experience and evidence included in an application for AFHEA, FHEA, and SFHEA must relate to teaching and/or support for learning practice related to higher education provision, such as:
- other equivalent higher education frameworks;
- activity focused on supporting learners within a Higher Education context, providing the learner(s) are enrolled on a Higher Education Qualification may also be considered as evidence equivalent to the higher education frameworks above;
The PSF 2023 acknowledges the wide variety of local and global contexts in which higher education operates, and the diverse practices and roles that contribute to high-quality learning.
In defining what constitutes higher education teaching and learning within different national contexts in order to determine eligibility for fellowship, Advance HE uses UK ENIC (UK National Information Centre) for information about global education frameworks and qualifications. Programmes will be defined as HE for the purposes of staff teaching and supporting learning on the programme being eligible for fellowship if they are an integral part of a programme defined as higher education within the context of the country of study.
The definition of what constitutes higher education has been further defined for staff in UK and Australasia. If you are unsure whether the examples of practice within your application meets the eligibility requirements above, please contact us at clt@anu.edu.au.
How to write your context statement
The second document that you need to attach to your REx program enrolment form is your draft context statement.
What is the context statement ?
Your context statement should provide a brief summary of your higher education roles, responsibilities and professional experience.
You are asked to submit a draft context statement upon enrolment in one of our EFS Reflection on Experience (REx) pathway groups, to help us match you to an EFS mentor. Your mentor will be sent this text so that they can better support you in drawing out and mapping out content for your application.
You can rework your draft context statement throughout your time in the REx pathway, and the final version will become the first text in your application for an Advance HE Fellowship. At this point, it will help the reviewers understand the nature of your work and the context in which you practice, before they look at the evidence you provide in the remainder of your application.
Note that the context statement provides the background to your practice and is not assessed against the Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF 2023). Therefore, you do not need to link the information in your context statement to the PSF 2023. This also means that the context statement cannot be used to provide supplementary information that would add evidence of effective practice to your application; in other words, it cannot be used to extend the word limit of the other application components.
How do I write the context statement?
In no more than 300 words your Context Statement should:
- Provide a brief summary of your teaching and/or support of learning experience, including the context in which you currently work, your current role and responsibilities in teaching and/or support of learning. Identify the type and location of institution(s) you work for, as this will help to set out the context for your work, but keep this brief and relevant to your role. Do not include details about the history and prestige of the institution(s), as your text is about you and your practice;
- Identify the learners that you work with; for example, the level of study (e.g. year of study, undergraduate, postgraduate, etc.), programme(s)/unit(s) of study, discipline/specialist area of work, number and types of learners, etc.;
- Focus on your current or recent practice, which should be within the last 3 years (AFHEA and FHEA applicants) or withing the last 5 years (SFHEA applicants).
Please remember that your application for is based on your higher education practice; if you also work in other teaching or learning roles outside of higher education you should not include this in your application.
As the Context Statement is not an assessed part of your application, you do not need to link this information to the PSF 2023. The reviewers will not take account of the information in the Context Statement when they assess your application; therefore, it cannot be used to provide supplementary information that would add evidence of effective practice to your ‘claim’ for AFHEA, FHEA, or SFHEA in your Reflective Narrative (i.e. it cannot be used to extend the word limit of your Reflective Narrative).
How do I submit my draft context statement?
Using the template (downloads Word document), attach your draft context statement to the ‘EFS REx program enrolment form’ by the deadline. If you have any questions, please email us at clt@anu.edu.au
Context statement examples
Here are some examples of what a paragraph in the context statement might look like.
Note that for a Senior Fellowship application, your context statement should highlight coordination, supervision, management and/or mentoring of others relating to learning and teaching.
I am a PhD student in my third year at ANU. I have been involved in various teaching and support of learning activities over the last two years.
I lead seminars for groups of between 10-15 undergraduate students studying Spanish in years 1 and 2. Seminar topics cover Spanish culture, history and politics. These normally last between one and two hours and provide the opportunity to discuss particular topics in more detail. Although the seminar schedule and topics are set, I develop my own seminar materials with support from the academic team. I use the University’s Learning Management System (LMS) to host resources and activities.
AFHEA example 2 – Librarian
I am an experienced, professionally qualified librarian at ANU with specific responsibilities for supporting students in humanities disciplines, whilst also helping to deliver the library’s academic skills agenda. I have worked at the University for three years and am part of a small team of four library staff within our Library.
My main teaching is face-to-face in-class timetabled sessions with groups of 20- 30 first year undergraduate students in their first semester. I work closely with academic staff and design my sessions to fit alongside their programme objectives. My sessions are usually up to 1.5 hours in length.
I also design and deliver face to face self-sign-up sessions with small groups of undergraduate and postgraduate students at our main site and students in our two overseas campuses via video link.
FHEA example 1 – Lecturer
I am a Lecturer in Geography at ANU. I first taught part-time while a Research Fellow at the University of Y for a year and then joined ANU three years ago as a full time lecturer. I teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate level across all year groups. At the start of this academic year I became the Module Leader for the Global Environmental Change module having previously been co-Module Leader for the Research Skills in Physical Geography module; both modules in the second year of the undergraduate programme.
My current teaching consists of: Postgraduate: (2 modules listed) and Undergraduate: (5 modules listed) teaching. I lecture to groups of around 80 undergraduate and 30 postgraduate students weekly. I also undertake weekly seminars with groups of 10-15 students and act as a personal tutor to 8 undergraduate students. In addition, I am currently supervising 2 PhD students. We are currently in the process of redesigning our undergraduate curriculum and I am leading on the development and validation of two new second year modules.
FHEA example 2 – Nurse educator
I am a Clinical Nurse Educator, with a specialist background in Accident and Emergency (A and E) medicine. I remain a Registered Nurse, practicing in my clinical setting, but also am a member of the Clinical Faculty at the University of X as part of my role.
For the last three years I have been teaching undergraduate (UG) nursing students from all three year groups at the University across a variety of modules.
My teaching currently includes theory based lectures to groups of around 90 students and small group teaching to between 10-20 students. The small group teaching involves practical sessions in a purpose-built simulation suite; this emulates real situations, as well as the routine procedures, that students will face working in the hospital. I have also been involved in creating video and film based learning materials and e-learning resources.
In my faculty role I am involved in all aspects of teaching and learning, including curriculum design and development. Within my work at the teaching hospital I oversee nursing students’ clinical practice and act as a mentor. I also support the professional development of my fellow nurses.
SFHEA example 1 – Learning Skills Manager
I am a Learning Skills Manager at ANU. I have worked in learning skills development for 8 years and now manage a team of six other Learning Skills Advisers. Our team supports undergraduate and postgraduate students with the development of a range of skills to support their study on academic programmes. One big area of our work is with students studying in their second language.
I developed and now manage a student peer-mentoring system, currently in its fifth year of operation. This is designed to support new international students to settle into university life, promoting first year transition and progression. I work closely in partnership with the Student Union to select and train mentors.
I also work with Heads of School to provide professional development for academic staff related to teaching international students and designing inclusive curricula. In addition to leading staff development sessions, I have developed a range of online resources to support colleagues.
I teach group workshops of 25-30 students and hold small group tutorials. I am an active researcher and regularly publish my work.
External to the University, I am on the Professional Development Committee of the XX Association and take a role in planning the annual cycle of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities, organising the annual Symposium and delivering face to face and online CPD sessions to members.
SFHEA example 2 – Principal Lecturer
I am a Principal Lecturer at the ANU College of Arts and Subject Leader of the postgraduate Graphic Design and Visual Communication Masters programmes.
I have been teaching in HE for 10 years, having previously worked as a graphic designer. I still freelance, which enriches my teaching.
I hold a PhD in Visual Communication, having entered HE as a mature learner via a Foundation Program and studied part-time as an undergraduate.
I have no formal line management responsibility for staff in my School but in my Subject Leader role for the Masters programmes, I co-ordinate the teaching of the four full time teaching staff, three sessional lecturers and two technicians that support the programmes. I lead on curriculum development. I am also a member of the College’s Learning and Teaching Committee and have worked on a number of cross-institution teaching and learning initiatives.
I am an active researcher and have published in several journals in relation to teaching in my discipline. I am a member of a national subject network involving 20 HE institutions and have led a collaborative teaching project, which I discuss in Case Study 1.
I completed my PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching in HE five years ago and since then have acted as a mentor to three members of staff undertaking that programme each year. I focus on my mentoring role in Case Study 2.
I normally supervise 2 or 3 PhD students and up to four undergraduate students undertaking final year projects.
I teach six modules on the Masters programmes and I still carry out some undergraduate teaching (2-3 modules a year).
