Not all students study in the same way, and not all academics follow the same routes, which is why Loughborough Business School’s pioneering approach can make a real difference, as Katherine Martin, Director of Teaching Enhancement, explains.
"If you’d have asked me 20 years ago where I saw my career heading, I probably would never have answered academia. Granted, I had taken a PhD, but that was in a research science discipline, and I then moved into accountancy. It wasn’t until I branched out to deliver technical training that I realised how much I enjoyed teaching and helping other people find and develop their strengths.
"At that point I still didn’t really think of academia as an option. Then a teaching post came up and the advert highlighted that professional experience counted just as much as having a research qualification. The penny dropped, and I realised I could follow what I loved to carry on my role in teaching."
Practical experience counts
"That’s a theme that has become more and more apparent as my academic career has progressed. To begin with, I occasionally came across an unspoken assumption that the goal was to provide pure academic qualifications, with anything practical being considered akin to technical training. Yet at Loughborough, I’ve found that practical experience is genuinely valued. There are a range of people from all manner of backgrounds contributing to the School, from academia, industry and other pathways, and the Business School really does recognise and value this diversity.
"I think Loughborough’s emphasis on the placement year is a key part of the value that is placed on practical experience. I would say that the students here have a great sense of commitment, and to my mind that’s because they know they have the placement year coming up. They have an ambition, and they have that focus. That’s why being a listening ear to our students is so important, as we can help them take the next steps towards realising their ambition. No matter what a person’s background or their goals, it’s our role to help knock down the barriers and put opportunities in place."
Enabling different ways of learning
"That’s what makes me passionate about my new role as the Director of Teaching Enhancement. Everyone has different ways of teaching and unique ways of learning. Some people might be happy to listen to a lecture and take notes, whereas other people want practical experience. It’s about allowing a diversity of approaches and ideas. That’s especially important when you consider the number of different disciplines that people study here. From accountancy to marketing and entrepreneurship, each subject requires its own teaching methods and unique inputs and insights.
"My role is to recognise other people’s ways of teaching and learning and support them, so we can build a community of widely diverse teaching methods. For each subject, each module and each discipline, we need to question what we are trying to achieve and tease out the best ways of reaching that goal.
"Of course, that doesn’t always mean doing something radically new. There’s a lot of pressure in pedagogy to constantly innovate, but sometimes the answer involves doing the basics and doing them really well. On the other hand, it might involve applying what someone is doing successfully in one area to use in a different field.
"To me, that’s what Progress with Purpose means. Looking at each individual objective and assessing the very best way to get there. I’m not doing research that is likely to change the world. But what I can do is make sure that our students are supported so that they can succeed in their own ways. They can change things, and the academic body is here to help keep them on track and support them. It can be easy to become cynical about the state of the world today, but talking to the students always fills me with tremendous hope."
These days, there is a lot more recognition of the diversity of our student body. I don’t only mean diagnosed and recognised learning differences, but also differences in how we all learn. The way we deliver teaching in higher education is changing, and I found that I wanted to be part of that change.
Dr Katherine Martin
Director of Teaching Enhancement
During her career as a professional accountant, Katherine started providing professional training for her peers. She found that she enjoyed helping people solve problems and further their career, and decided to take her interest further by moving into academia.
She has been teaching at Loughborough Business School since 2022 and has recently become Director of Teaching Enhancement, with the remit of making teaching more inclusive and more effective.