‘Excellent teaching is about cultivating an atmosphere where every individual feels that they belong here’

Can you describe a moment when you first became interested in Psychology, or when your career path changed?

My interest in psychology is not a sudden epiphany, but a gradual turn to its utility value and an outcome of professional development. I've always been curious about why and how people behave in the way they do. This curiosity helped me to thrive as a helpful and empathetic Human Resource (HR) manager. As I became more experienced in the field, I started to give expert lectures and masterclasses in HRM at higher education institutions. It was during this time that one of my mentors encouraged me to study psychology, specifically occupational psychology and psychometrics. They explained that these areas of study could help me to better understand people and develop more effective HR interventions.

I took their advice and completed a Masters in Psychology programme. I learned about the different theories of human behaviour and how to apply them to the workplace. I later specialised in psychometrics, and coaching techniques. After completing my Masters programme, I felt like I had a whole new way of understanding people at work. I was able to see the world through new eyes and appreciate the complexities of human behaviour. This allowed me to become even more effective in my role as HR manager.

To develop my self-knowledge and to learn more about people at work, I did my PhD in Leadership Development in 2015. I am now a Chartered Psychologist, and I am passionate about using my knowledge and skills to help others. After 25 years of HRM practice, I now work as a Senior Lecturer in HRM at Ulster University Business School, Northern Ireland, teaching and developing the next generation of HR professionals, with a view to creating more inclusive workplaces in the region. In my consultancy work, I help organisations to develop leaders and leadership at multiple levels, to increase talent velocity with reskilling and upskilling people at scale, to foster outcome-based collaborations in small, cross-functional teams, and to expand senior management team's focus on strategic clarity, coaching and purpose at work.

I'm grateful for the journey that I've been on. It's been a rewarding one. I'm excited to continue using my knowledge and skills to make a positive impact on the region.

As you've journeyed into HR, do you feel you've moved away from Psychology, or are you still drawing every day on psychological theory, research and practice?

I think I've become closer to psychology, not further away. As a consultant and a teacher, I have the unique privilege of working closely with employees in organisational settings, and students in university campuses. As a scholar-practitioner of HRM, I draw on psychological theory and research every day. Psychological theories have helped me to understand the motivations and behaviours of employees and students. They help me understand the factors that contribute to people's engagement, satisfaction, and performance in both settings. I use this knowledge to develop effective HR interventions in organisations, and meaningful lectures in the classrooms.  

As a lecturer of several HRM modules and as a course director of MSc HRM degree programme, I have the unique privilege of developing HR practitioners, because many of the students that I teach are practising HR managers who attend the classes after their work shifts. Psychological theories – personality, motivation, expectancy, cognitive, goal-setting, self-determination, and flow, to name a few – help me understand and teach how and why HR functions, such as recruitment and selection, performance management, reward, and engagement, create strategic value. The evidence from psychological research enables me to teach which interventions work for whom, why, and in what contexts. I believe that psychology is essential for effective HRM teaching and practice, and I am learning more about it every day.

Has the BPS been alongside you throughout that journey?

Yes, as a scholar-practitioner of HRM, the BPS provides me with access to a wealth of psychological knowledge, expertise, and networking opportunities with other psychologists. I have found this to be invaluable in keeping my knowledge up-to-date and in developing my skills as a research-informed teacher and consultant. I am a member of Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DARTP) and Division of Coaching Psychology (DCP) and they offer several professional development opportunities that are not generally available at a university.

The BPS provides a platform for me to share my own knowledge and expertise with others in multiple settings. Dr Natalie Lancer's Coaching Psychology podcast keeps me company on my daily commute. The BPS Knowledge Hub and the BPS Learning Hub complement the rich resources that are already available to academics like me in universities, thus enabling me to enhance my teaching and research in HRM, as well as my professional development as a Chartered Psychologist.  

Why do you think you were recognised for the prestigious National Teaching Fellowship Scheme? What's distinctive about your approach to teaching?

The way I personalise inclusion can be said as distinctive in my approach. Ulster University (UU) is a civic university. Inclusion is its core value. Widening participation is its ambition. UU attracts students from across Northern Ireland (NI), where almost a quarter of a million working-age adults have a disability. NI has the highest prevalence of mental health problems in the UK and around 25 per cent higher rates of anxiety and depression in the youth population in comparison to other UK nations (OSR, 2021). HRM is a popular course, and its students are therefore increasingly diverse. I seek to change the lives of people with disabilities while they are young, and in HE.

Teaching HRM is closely linked to changing employees' lives in organisations. I develop employability skills of all HRM students, with a specific focus on students with disabilities, who find multiple barriers to gain placements and employment. Through my unique approach to inclusion, the students that I teach experience what personalised inclusion looks and feels like, in classrooms. I coach HR practitioners (i.e., the students of MSc HRM programme) to be more flexible. As a result, all undergraduate students secure placements and jobs during their programme. Later, as HR managers, through their inclusive practices (related to recruitment, selection, training, reward and retention) my students enhance the lives of all employees. The National Teaching Fellowship award recognises the ripple effects of excellence in personalised inclusion, that is demonstrated in my practice.

Can you give us some examples of what you did in your classroom?

Yes.  Here are some examples that might be of interest to readers:

1. Promoting belongingness: I invite year-1 students to complete 'I wish my lecturer knew' sentence on a coded card (Schwartz, 2016) that allows them to tell me what I need to know for personalisation. I then create self-managing, 'peer-coaching groups', intentionally mixing those with disabilities and others without disabilities to work together, creating opportunities for meaningful relationships from the start. I encourage them to create 'Me Profile' online pages, where students explain their inclusion preferences (i.e., how I prefer to learn, and how you can make me feel included). I encourage each group to support its members by making resources accessible and available to everyone. I co-create assessment designs and rubrics and have replaced the 'fail' grade with 'Not Yet' grade (Dweck, 2016).  Through these initiatives, I build a community of learners so that all students can develop trusting partnerships that exist beyond the module, in a society that for many remains divided, in Northern Ireland.
2. Sustaining student support: For those requiring Reasonable Adjustments, I create Personal Support Pathways ensuring their learning and support needs are met. I sit with students to engage their interest, to help them believe that it is safe here to learn new things and that they can develop new skills through practice (Dweck, 2016). I encourage all students to keep lists and mind maps to sharpen focus, follow co-created ground rules, and use 'Just A Minute' (JAM) cards (popular in NI) to alert others when they need extra time/additional support.
3. Ensuring no student is left behind: Every year I organise a 'Placement Seekers' Mini Conference' to support students who fail to secure the year-long compulsory placements. I invite recruiters, employers, employability advisors, alumni, and students who secured placements to coach them. Students, seeing their vulnerabilities in a new light and with a renewed self-belief, secure placements within two or three months.
4. Focusing students with disabilities: I work with local charities to identify graduates with visible and non-visible disabilities, help them develop their CVs and interview skills, link them with the employers, coach employers to become more inclusive in their selection practices, and enabled students to secure meaningful jobs. Several students have transformed their lives and they continue to remain in their jobs even after 24 months.

What, for you, epitomises teaching excellence? 

Teaching excellence, in my perspective, centres on personalising inclusion in learning contexts, so that every student, including those with visible or non-visible disabilities, is well-prepared for employability and/or entrepreneurship. This approach involves cultivating a teaching and learning environment that not only embraces differences but harnesses them as catalysts for both academic success and responsible citizenship. 

I think excellent teaching requires offering tailored support, employing adaptive strategies and displaying unwavering commitment to eliminating barriers that could impede any student's progress. It's about cultivating an atmosphere where every individual feels that they belong here, that they are valued, and that they are also capable and empowered to excel. 

By personalising inclusion, an excellent teacher ensures that each student is not only ready for the job market or entrepreneurship but also equipped with leadership skills essential for making meaningful contributions to their communities, all while prioritising the wellbeing of people, profit and the planet. This vision of teaching excellence transcends the classroom, nurturing critical, confident and courageous individuals who can thrive in a diverse and ever-changing world.

What next for you?

Taking small steps in achieving the following two action-points: First, I intend to leverage the NTF recognition to disseminate good practices in inclusive teaching to a broader audience, both within my institution and externally. In collaboration with like-minded colleagues, I am co-leading a Special Interest Group on Inclusive Teaching (SIGIT) within the UU business school, and through this SIGIT, I am planning to promote more actively a simple idea: when we take an inclusive approach to teaching and learning, all students benefit; 'What's necessary for some is useful for all'.  

Second, I wish to create a 'Global Alliance of Universities for Disability Inclusion' (GAUDI) that aims to advance disability inclusion (DI) solutions through research, education, and community outreach, and to partner with industry, non-profit and government organisations to promote meaningful implementation from local to global scales (Joseph-Richard, 2022). A lot of good work is going on in universities across the world in this area. My wish is that GAUDI will promote exchange and cooperation among universities and providing leadership of global efforts addressing Disability inclusion in universities.

References

Dweck, C. (2016). What having a "growth mindset" actually means. Harvard Business Review, 13(2), 2-5.

Joseph-Richard, P. (2022). Closing the Disability Employment Gap in the UK: Utilising University-Industry Partnerships to Unlock Potential.  Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Education, Tokyo, Japan.

Schwartz, K. (2016). I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids. Da Capo Lifelong Books.