National Forum Summit 2021: Valuing Ireland’s Teaching and Learning (VITAL)

Ireland’s National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education have announced that the National Forum Summit 2021 has been scheduled for the week 08-12 November 2021. A series of national and regional events will take place across the country showcasing teaching and learning in Irish higher education.

The theme of the week will be ‘Valuing Ireland’s Teaching and Learning’ (VITAL) and it will involve students, staff, senior managers and policy partners across the country through a mix of live and pre-recorded events in which good practice and scholarship will be shared, strategic discussions will be held, excellence will be recognised, and the sector will come together to consider how to realise the promise of a valued and informed teaching and learning culture in Irish higher education.

VITAL Week will also mark the culmination of a nationwide consultation on valuing Ireland’s teaching and learning, which will be co-ordinated by the National Forum throughout 2021.

VITAL – Valuing Ireland’s Teaching and Learning (VITAL) is a national exploration of how teaching and learning is valued across a range of levels in Irish higher education including individual, discipline, institution and system.

The VITAL consultation will involve students, staff, leaders and policymakers and will initially centre on three questions:

1. How is teaching and learning currently valued and recognised?
2. Ideally, how could it be valued and recognised?
3. What influences how teaching and learning is valued and recognised?

The consultation provides the opportunity for individuals, disciplines, institutions and the higher education system

• to articulate a shared declaration with regard to how we value teaching and learning in Irish higher education
• to define, collectively and in partnership, an agreed approach to how we recognise and demonstrate the value of teaching and learning in Irish higher education.

Through this consultation, a national picture and narrative will be developed and an evidence base for future decisions will be established. This will be an important first step in working towards a truly consultative, context-appropriate and national approach to valuing and recognising teaching and learning in Irish higher education.