Prestigious teaching fellowship for work-based learning advocate

As a mature student herself, Dr Ruth Helyer knows all about the benefits of bringing workplace experience to higher education study.

After a career in banking and publishing, she decided to take the chance to study part-time when she had children - gaining a first class degree in English literature.

She went on to study for an MA and PhD – juggling study, with raising a family and part-time employment.

This experience ensured that Dr Helyer was determined to become an ambassador for those who decide to work and study simultaneously. Now a Principal Lecturer in Work-Based Learning at Teesside University, she has today (Thursday 27 June) been awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.

The £10,000 Fellowships recognise excellence in teaching and learning and just 55 were awarded this year to academics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Dr Helyer will receive her Fellowship in a special ceremony at Middle Temple Hall, London, in October.

Dr Helyer began to work in academia as an English Literature lecturer, but made the transition into work-based learning after working with a wide range of non-traditional students in outreach classes.

She said: ‘Those students inspired me so much, they had very diverse profiles and were very much non-traditional, but they worked extremely hard to make a success of their studies and brought the best of their vast experiential learning with them to the classes.’

Dr Helyer has become a nationally acknowledged expert in work-based learning and has developed a number of innovative programmes, including Teesside University’s Work-Based Studies degrees, based in Teesside University Business School.

She has also created many programmes in direct collaboration with employers, designed to meet their precise needs. This work was developed with her colleagues in the Department of Academic Enterprise, where she is Head of Workforce Development (Research and Policy).

Reflecting on her Fellowship, Dr Helyer said: ‘I am an avid believer in the power and potential of work-based learning and am absolutely delighted to receive this Fellowship. It is all the more special because the recognition is from my peers. It is fantastic for me, but will also help to raise the profile of work-based learning and Teesside University.’

With an increasing number of higher education students accessing work-based learning, Dr Helyer uses her module, ‘teaching work-based learners’ to promote the benefits and opportunities of work-based learning to new university lecturers.

She added: ‘I am going to continue to be a champion of work-based learning at Teesside University and build on our success in becoming one of the leaders in the sector in business engagement activities.’

Dr Helyer is widely published – her popular book ‘The Work-Based Learning Student Handbook’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) appears on numerous reading lists. She also edits the Emerald peer-reviewed journal Higher Education Skills and Work-Based Learning. The special issue last year on higher apprenticeships was launched in the House of Commons by Skills Minister Matthew Hancock.

Much of Dr Helyer’s work is undertaken in collaboration with colleagues from across the sector and beyond. Recently she has undertaken research projects for both Tees Valley Unlimited and the Institute for Local Governance. Last year she created a pioneering mentorship scheme, in collaboration with the Leadership Foundation. Always a believer in challenging herself, Dr Helyer has recently been studying for an MA in Creative Writing with Teesside University’s School of Arts & Media.

She added: ‘I have enjoyed the programme very much, as well as honing my writing skills it has been a good reminder for me to think like a student.’

Professor Craig Mahoney, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, said: ‘Becoming a National Teaching Fellow is a great honour and will undoubtedly lead to many new and exciting challenges, but I believe that it is students who will benefit most from these awards. Our students deserve the best possible learning experience and it is colleagues like those we celebrate today who can make a real difference to their futures.’

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