LSBU’s Anne Harriss awarded National Teaching Fellowship
An unorthodox approach to engaging students has resulted in LSBU's Anne Harriss being named today as one of the UK's National Teaching FellowsThe National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) is the most prestigious award for excellence in higher education teaching and support for learning.
Anne Harriss joined LSBU in 2000 and is currently Reader in Educational Development and Course Director for LSBU's Occupational Health (OH) Nursing and Workplace Health Management programmes. Passionate about her subject, Anne believes that it is vital to engage students with the learning process by constantly looking for new—and often eccentric—ways of teaching.
For example, Anne will demonstrate how to simplify complex occupational health processes by employing stage magician's props to show how even something initially unfathomable has a simple explanation. She has also employed online clips from creative thinkers around the world to teach the students the importance of self-reliance in both learning and practice.
Upon being named as a National Teaching Fellow, Anne Harriss said: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed to have been awarded such a prestigious fellowship.
"It means a great deal to me because preventing work-related illness is so important, regardless of the industry, and our obligation as educators is to equip the next generation of occupational health professionals with the knowledge and skills to safeguard workplace and worker health.
"Learners are lights to be lit, not vessels to be filled. The way to drive change, challenge beliefs and assumptions is the use of thought-provoking teaching strategies. I have seen students grasp complex concepts such as Health and Safety Law when they are able to engage with the topic in a way they never considered."
In 2011, Anne's contribution to OH practice was recognised by her peers when she was named the first Occupational Health Nurse of the Year. In the same year, the portfolio of programmes she developed and leads gained the Innovations in Occupational Health Award.
National Teaching Fellowships are awarded annually by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), a national and independent organisation dedicated to supporting the higher education community in order to enhance the quality and impact of learning and teaching.
London South Bank University is also home to three previous National Teaching Fellowship recipients: Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Anita Peleg (2012); Principal Lecturer in Psychology, Dr Anne Ridley (2008) and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Resources and Management, Dr Gloria Gordon (2002).