Our Learning, Teaching & Enhancement Strategy articulates our commitment to systematically improving the quality of our provision and the ways in which our students’ learning is supported and has been developed from the perspective that we seek first to recognise good practice and then to share it with our peers both internally and externally.

This Learning, Teaching and Enhancement Strategy will be reviewed on a biennial basis to ensure that it continues to reflect our intentions and expectations.

Vision

• To invest in the life of individuals, organisations and communities through excellence in training, practice and research in the psychological therapies.

Mission

• To offer high quality humanistic and integrative programmes of study in the professional fields of counselling, psychotherapy, counselling psychology, supervision, coaching and organisational development through the provision of a wide range of opportunities;
• To support research in the development of professional knowledge;
• To work closely with relevant professional bodies as well as our partners in the university sector;
• To provide lower cost counselling and psychotherapy services for the benefit of the general public.

Mission Aims

• To offer teaching, training and lifelong learning of the highest quality;

• To provide students with a theoretical and practical framework on which to base a professional and ethical practice in their chosen area of work;

• To enhance the Institute's reputation for excellence in practice-based research and scholarship

• To offer practitioner training within a supportive and inclusive environment;

• To provide accessible and effective educational and clinical services to the wider community;

• To develop a research active culture within each department.

Learning & Teaching

Our approach to learning and teaching aims:

• To foster positive student experience through relevant teaching and learning strategies;

• To develop innovative and responsive programmes which meet the needs of all stakeholders;

• To recruit and retain high quality staff who can effectively carry forward the stated aims of the Institute;

• To respond in teaching and practice to the demands of changes in the wider field;

• To pursue appropriate and beneficial international links;

• To ensure ethical, excellent and informed practice and research;

• To contribute to professional knowledge for the benefit of the clients and the profession

The Learning, Teaching & Enhancement Committee

The purpose of the Learning, Teaching Enhancement Committee (LTEC) is to build upon the core values which drive learning and teaching at the Institute, as well as the set of strategic aims that arise from those values, and to implement a framework that is designed to develop the pursuit of those aims through the identification and dissemination of good practice among the wider Metanoia Institute community.

The LTEC takes a strategic view of the learning cycle and concentrates on the important learning priorities for the new academic year and beyond. It is to be the main focus of activity for gathering learning and teaching priorities from the Faculties and maintain operational contact with the Higher Education Academy

Through its progressive implementation of this Learning, Teaching and Enhancement Strategy, the LTEC seeks to illuminate our learning and teaching identity as a small, specialised institution, to elucidate the learning and teaching values that make up this identity and to set out the principal learning and teaching experiences we expect our students to receive.

LTEC Aims

Specifically, the LTEC aims:

• To strengthen and enhance the quality of students’ experiences of learning and teaching whenever necessary, appropriate and practicable;

• To sustain an environment in which excellence in learning and teaching can thrive and where refinements and innovation in practices are promulgated;

• To encourage everyone involved in teaching and supporting learning to play their part in enhancing as well as assuring quality.

Supporting Principles

Metanoia Institute’s Learning, Teaching and Enhancement Strategy will:

• Be well aligned to the Institute’s strategic vision, mission, goals and ethos;

• Underpin and be complementary to the learning and teaching strategies of the three faculties;

• Be forward thinking and engaged with the evolving needs of the Institute;

• Be inclusive in its approach to our patterns of provision for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes;

• Value the initiative of individuals and programme teams in seeking to enhance the student experience.

Strategic Priorities

Metanoia Institute’s Learning, Teaching and Enhancement Strategy will:

• Encourage staff to enhance their teaching practice by keeping up to date with the latest pedagogic research and by participating in an enhancement-led Peer Observation scheme;
  
  
• Improve quality by encouraging Programme Leaders to ensure cross-programme consistency in terms of academic frameworks, content and assessment;
  
  
• Enable us to produce graduates who have the knowledge, skills, confidence and ambition to achieve success in their chosen careers by providing a supportive learning and teaching environment.

• Embed a research ethos throughout the Institute that underpins learning, teaching and professional practice.

• Fosters a culture of continuous enhancement and improvement throughout Metanoia Institute.

Academic Staff Development

Metanoia Institute will:

• Provide training opportunities for all staff engaged in learning and teaching;

• Develop HEA accredited programmes and qualifications for continuing professional development of academic staff in line with UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF);

• Encourage the dissemination of good practice throughout the Institute and across Faculties through the development of staff networks to support staff in research and teaching;

• Encourage staff to use core digital technologies to support learning, teaching and assessment;

• Review policy and outcomes for progression and promotion of staff in roles related to learning and teaching.

Portfolio & Curriculum Development

Metanoia Institute will providea specialist portfolio of high quality provision at taught undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral level; the portfolio will be mindful of market requirements nationally and internationally, and its currency and rigour will be maintained through a robust process of programme approval, validation and review; as such we will:

• Regularly review our portfolio, curriculum and syllabi;

• Encourage flexible provision and modes of delivery

• Maintain a curriculum that is outcomes-based,supported by concepts of constructive alignment between programme and module learning outcomes and appropriate assessment;
  
  
• Ensure that the curriculum is informed by research and professional practice, as appropriate to the level of study, which engages students and meets their needs wherever they are studying;

• Is aligned with the requirements of all applicable professional accreditations.

Learning Environment

Metanoia Institute will:

• Continue to improve and develop our learning and teaching spaces;

• Monitor and adapt learning and teaching spaces to changing learning needs;

• Develop greater flexibility in time-tabling;

• Continue to improve facilities in the Learning Resource Centre.

 

Learning and Teaching

Metanoia Institute aims to provide effective and engaging learning, teaching and assessment opportunities for our students to enable them to progress and achieve their potential; as such, we will:

• Increase levels of progression, retention and achievement;

• Support a community of professional and inspirational teaching staff, committed to excellent teaching and putting students first;

• Bring together expertise from the academic and professional practice spheres for the benefit of students and their employers and businesses;

• Develop, recognise and reward excellent practice in teaching and the support of learning;

• Ensure our approaches to teaching, learning and pedagogies are effective,innovative and informed by research;

• Raise the external profile of the excellence of our teaching and support for learning, including our research and innovation in these areas.

In order to achieve these objectives, we will ensure that:

• Learning and teaching activities and associated resources provide every student with an equal and effective opportunity to achieve the intended learning outcomes;

• Learning and teaching practices are informed by reflection, evaluation of professional practice and subject-specific and educational scholarship;

• Everyone involved in teaching and supporting student learning is appropriately qualified, supported and developed;

• We collect and analyse appropriate information to ensure the continued effectiveness of our strategic approach to, and our enhancement of, learning opportunities and teaching practices;

• We maintain learning environments that are safe, accessible and reliable for every student and promote dignity, courtesy and respect in their use;

• Every student is provided with clear and current information that specifies the learning opportunities and support available to them;

• We take deliberate steps to assist every student to understand their responsibility to engage with the learning opportunities provided and shape their learning experience;

• Every student is enabled to monitor their progress and further their academic development through the provision of regular opportunities to reflect on feedback and engage in dialogue with staff.

 

Student Experience

Metanoia Institute seeks to ensure that our students have a fulfilling and transformative learning experience; as such, we will:

• Attract students with the ability and ambition to excel and inspire them to achieve their potential;
  
  
• Increase levels of student satisfaction;
  
  
• Work in partnership with the student body to increase student engagement in all aspects of Metanoia Institute life (including in the design and delivery of their education);
  
  
• Ensure that our physical and virtual facilities and resources are of the highest possible standard;

In order to achieve these objectives, we will ensure that:

• We have in place monitoring and evaluation arrangements and resources that enable students to develop their academic, personal and professional potential;

• We determine, through strategic and operational planning, and quality assurance and enhancement, how we enable student achievement;

• We define, coordinate, monitor and evaluate roles and responsibilities for enabling student development and achievement both internally and in cooperation with other organisations;

• A commitment to equality and diversity guides us in enabling student development and achievement;

• We inform students before and during their period of study of opportunities designed to enable their development and achievement;

• We have in place policies, practices and systems that facilitate successful transitions and academic progression;

• We ensure all students have opportunities to develop skills that enable their academic, personal and professional progression;

• We ensure staff who enable students to develop and achieve are appropriately qualified, competent, up to date and supported;

• We make appropriate learning resources available and enable students to develop their skills to use them.

Student Support

Metanoia Institute will:

• Provide student support that promotes academic and professional development;

• Improve support for the student body through the development and implementation of a Student Association and Student Charter;

• Place greater emphasis on the induction process by preparing students more effectively for their transition from earlier education/work environments;

• Assess the value and impact of student support services.

 

Employability

Metanoia Institute aims to ensure that our graduates are well-prepared for employment and professional practice through our curriculum design,pedagogy and support in gaining work experience; as such, we will:

• Ensure that our programmes enable students to develop strong skills and attributes relevant to professional employment;

• Ensure that, where appropriate,our programmes are professionally accredited;

• Provide opportunities for students to engage with professional practice and/or employers.

E Learning

Metanoia Institute will:

• Develop the Institute’s virtual learning environment;

• Develop e-learning tools that meet the needs of both staff and students (taking into account new technological and pedagogical opportunities);

• Seek innovative ways of using e-learning to support assessment and feedback.