The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (National Forum) is Ireland’s advisory body for teaching and learning in Irish higher education. In 2015 the National Forum developed a professional development framework for all staff who teach in Higher Education (PDF). In 2016, library staff from Carlow IT DIT (now TU Dublin) and Dundalk IT were awarded substantial funding for a 2 year project (L2L) to review the PDF through a library lens. L2L was the first library-based project to be funded by the National Forum in this way.
Tangible outcomes include the website l2l.ie, with its wealth of resources, and a book recording the experiences of project participants. Other outcomes include greater self-confidence and recognition of all library staff as educators.
It is essential now that these outcomes are disseminated widely amongst the library community. So the conference presentation will describe the project, discuss its findings and encourage attendees to engage with it.
Relevance of the presentation to the conference theme of ‘Inclusive Libraries’:
All library staff in all libraries (academic, public and special) ‘teach’ their users in some way and all users benefit (including those disadvantaged or excluded). In addition, the presentation will be equally relevant to attendees from the North and the south. Finally, the success of the project will encourage other library staff to apply for similar funding in future.