On Monday, 7 November, The Academy at the University of Liverpool hosted a welcome event for the inaugural group of colleagues from the Philippines who recently completed the Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice and are members of the Transformative Academic Practice for Higher Education in the Philippines (TAPHEP) Project.
The event was part of a week-long visit to Liverpool and the UK by the Philippine cohort and included speeches by Professor Gavin Brown, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Reverend Professor Will Foster from Advance HE, Dr Sue Bolt, Head of Academic Development at The Academy, and Asst. Professor Anna Floresca F. Firmalino, Director for International Linkages of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
The TAPHEP Project was launched in 2021 and aims to support related capacity building of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and other selected Higher Education Institutions in the country, via postgraduate education and certification from the University of Liverpool and Advance HE, and through the creation of echo seminars and foundational educational development modules by Philippine Higher Education teachers in collaboration with UK professionals, tailored to the Philippine Higher Education landscape.
Assistant Professor Anna Floresca F. Firmalino, who is also the TAPHEP Project Co-Lead from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said: “While the TAPHEP Project has been in the works with the University of Liverpool since 2017 and was further delayed by the pandemic, we are happy that it has finally gotten off the ground. The PGCAP and the ensuing discussions have allowed us to identify gaps that we in Philippine higher education need to address and we look forward to continued partnership with the UoL and Advance HE to make that possible.”
Other events during the visit have included a debrief of the Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice experience through student and stakeholder focus groups, Echo Seminar Planning, through which students will share what they have learned with fellow colleagues back in the Philippine, as well as Liverpool university campus and city tours.
About the TAPHEP Project
With the University of the Philippines Los Baños leading, the TAPHEP Project has operated along two fronts, the first toward the training and certification of teaching professionals from across the Philippines and the second involving the development of mechanisms toward the improvement of teaching and learning in the Philippines.
For the first cohort of training and certification, 17 faculty participants from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, the University of the Philippines Open University, and 10 other Higher Education Institutions undertook the Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice. As part of the second cohort, a group of 13 faculty participants from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, the University of the Philippines Open University, and eight other Higher Education Institutions commenced their Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice in August 2022, and The Academy anticipates their visit later in 2023.
On the second front, the TAPHEP team has been working on assessing needs in the training of Philippine higher education teachers and on identifying mechanisms that will enable continuous improvement of teaching and learning in the Philippine higher education sector.
About the Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice
The global Liverpool Online Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice (PGCAP) was launched in January 2021 and is accredited by Advance HE, enabling successful participants, simultaneously, to achieve Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). The unique partnership with Advance HE ensures that the PGCAP is the only accredited online programme to be delivered globally to external participants.
In January 2023, the University of Liverpool is extending the reach of the online programmes further by offering a full Master of Arts Academic Practice (MA AP), which develops academic practice, leadership, and scholarship, and features an extended Academic Practice Project.
Dr James Howard, Director of The Academy, said: “We’re really excited about the potential of our online programmes to enhance teaching excellence and support the creation of learning environments in which students can realise their potential. To be able to open our programmes to an international audience and share effective practice from across the globe is a huge privilege and a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and development that has a real impact on staff and students alike”.