Academic receives prestigious national teaching award

Senior academic Dr Channine Clarke has been named as one of this year’s National Teaching Fellows by Advance HE.

Advance HE’s National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) and the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) celebrate those who teach and/or support learning in UK higher education. These prestigious annual awards are given to individuals and teams, respectively, who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession.

Dr Clarke’s award comes in recognition of her innovative work supporting sport and health students on practice placements across the region. It is the third consecutive year in which teaching excellence at the University of Brighton has been recognised in this way, building on NTFS awards in 2022 and 2023 and a CATE award in 2023.

As Head of Practice Learning, Dr Clarke has been instrumental in securing a breadth of placement experiences for University of Brighton students to ensure they have the skills they need to succeed in clinical practice. These include placements in non-traditional or diverse settings without an established occupational therapy service, such as community homeless teams, schools or nursing homes.

The award also cites Dr Clarke’s work co-leading the Bridging the Gap to Leadership project in collaboration with Canterbury Christ Church University. This award-winning initiative was set up in 2021 to support minority ethnic students during practice placements. The online placement offers leadership development opportunities for student practitioners and aims to raise awareness among practice partners of issues of racism and unconscious bias.

Dr Clarke, who has recently been named as the School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences’ Associate Dean (Practice Learning and Partnerships), said: “I’m really honoured, it’s lovely to be recognised in this way. I am an occupational therapist through and through, and I moved into higher education so that I could share my passion for the profession and help support our graduates to enter an increasingly complex health and social care environment. It has been my immense honour and privilege to work with our students and practice partners to create the kind of innovative placement opportunities that will sustain our workforce into the future.”

Dr David Walker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students), said: “This is fantastic news, not just for the university but for Channine herself. Her dedication and expertise over the past 17 years have been invaluable in helping to provide the kind of transformational professional placements our students need to succeed in an ever-more complex working environment. I am delighted that her achievements have been recognised in this way.”

For more information about the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme and the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, please visit Advance HE’s website.

About Channine Clarke

Dr Channine Clarke is the Associate Dean (Practice Learning and Partnerships) for the School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Brighton. An occupational therapist by profession, she teaches on the BSc(Hons) and MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) courses.

Channine qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1998, and has specialised in mental health, practising within the Specialist and Secure Services for Sussex Partnership NHS Trust. She worked at The College of Occupational Therapists, developing their clinical audit and governance resources in 2001. She has worked full time for the university since 2007, completing her PhD in 2012.

Her research interests include the experiences of occupational therapy students in role-emerging placements, which has led to significant curriculum development. Channine’s work is internationally recognised, and she is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Her publications are widely cited, and she continues to contribute to the field through her research and annual conferences.

About Advance HE

Advance HE is a UK charity and professional membership scheme dedicated to promoting excellence in higher education. Its National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) and the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) celebrate those in UK higher education who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession.