Recognising Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Irish Higher Education

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has commenced work on the development of a National Professional Recognition Framework for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (National Recognition Framework). This initiative seeks to address the longstanding challenge that teaching excellence in higher education is sometimes undervalued and insufficiently rewarded relative to research achievements.

This work builds on the Professional Development Framework which was launched in 2016 by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. The Professional Development Framework provides a roadmap for staff on how to frame professional development and leverage it for career advancement. The National Recognition Framework will complement the Professional Development Framework by explicitly setting out principles for the recognition of excellence in teaching and learning. For both those who teach and institutional management it will provide a framework for clearly defined expectations, which can be used to benchmark achievement.

This project is currently led by Dr. Sharon McGreevy (secondee to the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at the HEA) and supported by a Professional Recognition Advisory Group comprising of national experts.
The following discussion represents preliminary work undertaken since September 2024 and serves to provide an update to stakeholders, whilst also acting as a starting point for a national conversation around the professional recognition of teaching and learning in Irish higher education. Through dialogue with the sector and the HEA’s Professional Recognition Advisory Group, this material will be revised, updated and developed as the work evolves and progresses.

This work is currently ongoing and will result in the publication of a draft National Professional Recognition Framework for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Ireland by the end of 2025. This will be followed by sector wide engagement, usability testing and piloting.