Focus | Excellent Teachers
Inspired by skilled teachers Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Pedagogical experience, professional development but not least pedagogical reflection, these are some of the criteria a lecturer must meet in order to be called ”excellent”. Thus far, 31 Excellent Teachers have been appointed at the University of Gothenburg and 16 of them come from Sahlgrenska Academy. The Institute of Health and Care Sciences has the highest
number of Excellent Teachers: eight appointments with two more in progress. This is what the Head of Department Karin Ahlberg, who is an Excellent Teacher, has to say on the subject. – The institute has a long tradition of pedagogical development and research. The emphasis is on the education being research-related and, vice versa, that the research is connected to the education. Several of the institute’s lecturers have many years of pedagogical experience and develop their teaching on an ongoing basis. That is one reason why so many of them have been able to put together an application relatively quickly, Karin Ahlberg explains. – But applying to be an Excellent Teacher is still quite an undertaking; the requirements include that a lecturer has reflected in depth on their teaching work. The head of department must approve the application, which is then sent to the Associ-
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GUJOURNAL MAY 2021
The emphasis is on the education being research-related and, vice versa … KARIN AHLBERG
Karin Ahlberg thinks there are many more teachers at the University who could become “excellent”.
ate Professorship Committee’s assessment team at Sahlgrenska Academy. The application is then reviewed by external experts and finally the assessment team conducts an interview. And it is incredible the stories and powerful pedagogical methods that come to light and which can hopefully be disseminated!
The Institute of Neuroscience
and Physiology, which has three Excellent Teachers, also has an extensive teaching assignment, according to Head of Department Jenny Nyström.
– We have many talented and committed lecturers. But those who have gone the extra mile and devoted even more time to pedagogical development, we encourage them to apply to become Excellent Teachers. It is partly about giving a formal recognition to committed educators, and partly about giving experienced employees the opportunity to act as inspiration and mentors for their colleagues. It is important to emphasize that you can be excellent in various ways, for example by holding lectures, teaching in a clinical setting or by being a supervisor. Different
