Teaching Associate (Visual Impairment)

As one of the University’s largest Schools, the School of Education has a central role in advancing the research and teaching standing of the University. The School is an international leader in education, with a history of top-rated research. In the 2017 QS World Rankings, it was ranked 25th in the World and joint sixth in Europe.

The School is seeking to appoint a Teaching Associate to support and advise postgraduate students within the Department’s suite of distance education programmes with the special education needs specialisms. The Teaching Associate will be managed by the Programme Lead with ultimate responsibility for the design, delivery and assessment of the teaching programme, and be allocated a group of students within the relevant programme/s at the beginning of each academic year.

The successful candidate will be required to be a Qualified Teacher in Vison Impairments, have postgraduate qualifications relevant to the programme area, and to have diverse professional experiences of working with children, young people with Visual Impairment and their families. The ability to devise and deliver inputs to the VisualImpairment programme, using appropriate methods for training and professional development, is also required, as is the ability to support the wider administration of the programme and the School.

Main Duties

Receiving guidance from the academic supervisor who has the ultimate responsibility for the design, delivery and assessment of the teaching programme:

• Provide academic and pastoral support to those students allocated to them in the most appropriate way (eg by Skype, email, telephone, face to face)
• Liaise with university tutors over support for students and provide feedback to university tutors as appropriate
• Mark student assignments within the agreed timescale, including resubmissions and extensions
• Attend tutor development days / residential components as appropriate for the programme
• Adhere to university codes of practice (available via the iVLE)
• Teaching Associates will be encouraged to use the University’s online facilities for communication wherever possible
• Devise and supervise projects, student dissertations and practical work where appropriate
• Develop an approach to planning and reviewing own teaching
• Frequently update own subject expertise
• Undertake personal professional development in teaching, including self-reflection on own teaching, using student and peer review feedback, to enhance own teaching and learning processes

Person Specification

• A relevant postgraduate masters level qualification including a relevant mandatory qualification (Vision Impairment)
• Demonstrated expertise in specialist area relevant to the programme/s
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to support the delivery of module materials successfully
• Ability to assess and organise resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes