If you'd asked me that question when I first started in academia 5 years ago, I'd have said it's the most important. I came from clinical practice where 'education' absolutely wasn't pedagogically guided or grounded, they were corridor conversations drawn out into a 30 minute in service training (IST) essentially... In that role, I found… Continue reading How Important is Being an Engaging Lecturer?
Author: Dean Walker
My Introduction to Sensory Integration
In October 2025, I turned up to work expecting a useful training session on sensory integration. What I didn’t expect was for it to quietly reframe how I see engagement in myself, my children, and my students. As a physiotherapist, sensory integration isn’t something I’ve been deeply embedded in. My Occupational Therapy colleagues were far… Continue reading My Introduction to Sensory Integration
Learners Create the Learning Environment
I've recently been inspired by undertaking my MA Dissertation and it's led to a real revelation in my approach to leading a classroom - I'm not in as much control as I think I am... I'm sure this isn't a revelation to other lecturers/tutors/teachers but its a pretty critical one for me. When I came… Continue reading Learners Create the Learning Environment
5 Essential Digital Skills for Academics
Academics are of course extremely smart, capable people. But I'm experiencing more and more pressure for them to get up to speed with the digital aspects of their role, which is moving unbelievably quickly. The nature of this post is not to patronise, on the contrary, it's to acknowledge that we often get the basics… Continue reading 5 Essential Digital Skills for Academics
Student as Producer – In Simulation!
‘Student as Producer’ is proudly showcased at a strategic level at the University of Lincoln, reimagining the student not only as a learner, but as an active co-creator of knowledge (Neary & Winn, 2009). The model places emphasis on aligning research and teaching — ideally moving toward scholarly, purposeful outputs created through meaningful collaboration. Admittedly,… Continue reading Student as Producer – In Simulation!
Resilience-Focused Debriefing
In clinical practice, things rarely go as planned. So why do we train students like they always will? I recently read a fascinating article by Amorøe et al. (2025) identifying tangible debriefing techniques to enhance learner appreciation of overcoming challenges within simulation activities, and it's inspired me... Amorøe et al., utilise Hollnagel's (2014) theory of… Continue reading Resilience-Focused Debriefing
Essential Digital Skills for Academics: Video Editing & Production
If you’d told me a few years ago that video editing would become one of the most valuable tools in my educational toolkit, I probably would’ve laughed. But here we are — and honestly? It’s changed everything. I started dabbling out of necessity during clinical practice. I’m a respiratory physiotherapist by background, working on the… Continue reading Essential Digital Skills for Academics: Video Editing & Production
Achievement: Fellowship of Higher Education
PGDip Module 4 – Supporting Academic Professional Development
Towards the end of my Postgraduate Diploma in Policy and Practice in Higher Education, the module Supporting Academic Professional Development asked something different of me. Not another policy analysis, nor another deep dive into pedagogy, but a drawing together—of ideas, of experiences, of identity. It was a culminating moment, and a quietly transformative one. The… Continue reading PGDip Module 4 – Supporting Academic Professional Development
PGDip Module 3 – Teaching & Research Practice
During my Postgraduate Diploma in Policy and Practice in Higher Education, I encountered a module that both challenged and sharpened my academic and professional sensibilities: Teaching and Research Practice. This wasn’t just another credit-bearing exercise — it was a deliberate pause, a structured opportunity to turn the lens inward and ask: How do I know… Continue reading PGDip Module 3 – Teaching & Research Practice
Dean Walker 