Danielle Meddemmen
1 March 2021: University of Canberra sessional academic Katrin McLeod has joined a growing number of staff at the University to be named as a Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellow.
HEA Fellowships are awarded in line with the UK Professional Standards Framework, to those showing excellence in teaching and learning in the higher education sector.
Ms McLeod said she was honoured to have received the recognition for her teaching, but the news of her fellowship hadn’t quite sunk in.
“I hope it helps me along the way with my teaching and further career, but for now I am just happy I have received that recognition,” she said.
“I don’t know where it will take me, but I am living in the moment and enjoying if for now.”
Commencing as a master’s student at the University in 2015, Ms McLeod transferred into a PhD course the following year and began teaching at the Faculty of Business, Government and Law.
Following her completion of a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education at the University, she applied for the HEA Fellowship.
Ms McLeod teaches a range of units at the University’s Canberra Business School, including Climate Change and Sustainable Business Futures, Entrepreneurship, Contemporary Issues in Accounting, and International Marketing.
She describes her teaching style as somewhat unconventional, preferring to work with her students in a collaborative fashion.
“My philosophy is that everyone is a learner and teacher simultaneously,” she said. “In my classroom we learn together, instead of thinking of me as the educator in front of the students.
“I think everyone has a bank of knowledge and we can use that to have discussions and learn from each other.”
As part of UC’s Recognition of Advancement Strategy, Ms McLeod was supported by the University’s Learning and Teaching team, especially by Teaching and Learning Fellow, Transition Pedagogy Dr Stephanie Kizimchuk.
Ms McLeod also received mentorship from Professor David Carter from the Canberra Business School, who is himself a Fellow of the HEA.
“The University’s support of the HEA Fellowship shows its support for the internationally recognised qualification, and the development and advancement of its staff,” Ms McLeod said.
