Five minutes with… Dr Danijela Serbic

Senior Lecturer (teaching-focused) Dr Danijela Serbic (Royal Holloway, University of London) has recently won the British Psychological Society's DART-P's (Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology) 2023 Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year Award. She told Ella Rhodes about her passion for teaching and her work in bringing pedagogical researchers in psychology together.

How did you become especially interested in teaching?

I've always enjoyed discussing and sharing knowledge – that's always been my passion. However, what truly fills me with joy is supporting students along their educational paths, witnessing their growth into accomplished individuals who are ready to tackle the world with confidence. 

Higher education these days is filled with uncertainties for students, and the current job market for graduates is highly competitive; possessing a degree alone doesn't guarantee a well-rounded and employable graduate. It is important, and an immense joy for me, to guide students in becoming socially responsible individuals, equipped with many different skills, and not afraid to face the future.

What are your teaching-related highlights so far?

Apart from recognitions like the DART-P award, which is a very big thing for me, what often makes me proud is seeing students collaborate with us. In current higher education, there is a lot of emphasis on the consumerist approach to education. But then you get to work with students who genuinely embrace self-growth and partnership with us, which is truly inspiring. 

Our jobs include a lot of different tasks – supervising projects, marking, teaching – but I think it is also important to engage with students, be interested in their development and collaborate with them. I always try to seek out such opportunities and that makes my job so rewarding. Those seemingly small yet significant moments in my daily life are real highlights of my career.

Can you tell me about THESIS (Teaching in Higher Education – Supporting and Inspiring Students) – the group you founded?

Yes, I started it six years ago, recognising the need for more support for teaching and pedagogic research in my department, but also across the sector. We started with six members and currently have 26 members who are all passionate about supporting psychology education. THESIS is a platform for student engagement with extracurricular activities, which helps to boost their employability and their personal development. 

Early career staff in academia share similar challenges in terms of facing uncertainties and the current competitive job market. On top of that, you have teaching-focused staff who face additional challenges in navigating this still vaguely defined career pathway. So, THESIS is also a platform for staff development opportunities such as engagement with pedagogic research and scholarship.

In addition, these shared challenges between students and staff open doors for mutually beneficial career support activities involving co-production and co-creation, which are very important goals in higher education nowadays – so we often co-create and co-produce events with our students. An example of this is the THESIS Wellbeing Day which is attended by around 100 students each year. It is co-produced by early career teaching staff and students who work together to design various wellbeing-focused activities for our students.

How has it been, watching THESIS grow and evolve?

When I started THESIS, we had several research groups in the department but none of them focused on psychology education and pedagogy. That wasn't the case just in my department, I think that's really prominent across the sector. At the time, my department was just starting to develop this teaching-focused career route, which I was on. 

So, I thought that those of us in teaching-focused careers should be working together, in a structured way, on improving psychology education, and that idea was really welcomed by my colleagues. The department has seen the impact this has had on the teaching in the department, on student development, and on promoting the department. It took some time to establish THESIS as an official pedagogy-focused group, but that journey has been really fantastic.

Can you tell me how you felt to win the DART-P award?

Being honoured with this award is incredibly humbling. It means a great deal to have my contributions acknowledged, particularly in the domain of establishing career support routes for students and academics, especially those just beginning their professional journeys. I deeply appreciate the support from my students, mentors, and colleagues, especially those affiliated with my pedagogic group, THESIS.

Can you share any teaching plans for the future?

Something I would like to do next would be to address the potential lack of pedagogy- and psychology education-focused groups within psychology departments, as well as the lack of collaboration between them. I've started cooperating with the DART-P to build a database of such groups so that we can collaborate and work together towards enhancing psychology education in the UK and beyond. 

If you have a psychology education-focused research group/unit and would like to be included, please complete the survey. If you have any questions about this initiative, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

For more information on THESIS, visit the website, or follow THESIS on X @thesis_rhul and YouTube.

Get more information about the HE Teaching Development Conference on 4 June at Royal Holloway.