Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 8 | Page 4

EDITORIAL | 5
4 | JADE
EDITORIAL
Dr. Kate Cuthbert | Higher Education Academy, UK
Academic Lead for Health and Social Care
Tw i t t e r ha ndle :
@cut hbert _ kate
I
ha v e worked a c ross a num ber of hea lt h a nd soc ia l c a re educ a t iona l
init ia t iv es (produc ing a nd deliv ering lea rning opport unit ies in
c linic a lly - led c om m issioning; int erprofessiona l lea rning; pa t ient
sa fet y ; qua lit y im prov em ent skills a nd lea dership a nd m a na gem ent ).
I deliv ered na t iona l lea rning progra m m es in pa t ient sa fet y a s pa rt of
t he N HS I I I sa fer c a re init ia t iv e a nd hea ded up num erous v a lida t ion a nd
qua lit y a ssura nc e a c t iv it ies in Higher E duc a t ion I nst it ut ions, working
t o m eet professiona l/regula t ory body requirem ent s a nd hea lt h sec t or
needs.
I ha v e a lso c ont ribut ed t o int erna t iona l lea rning dev elopm ent s in
Z im ba bwe wit h t he Brit ish Counc il a nd m ore rec ent ly in Ba hra in.
M y work a t t he Higher E duc a t ion Ac a dem y ha s inc luded whole
orga nisa t iona l c ha nge progra m m es, c urric ula rev iews a nd I rec ent ly led
t he dev elopm ent a nd deliv ery of t he Tea c hing E x c ellenc e Progra m m es. I
wa s pa rt of t he dev elopm ent t ea m for t he HE A t oolkit s. M y PhD ex plored
hea lt h beliefs in 8 Post - S ov iet st a t es.
Curriculum Design Learnings from
Product Design
...we need
to remind
ourselves that
curriculum
happens
outside of the
paperwork...
My favourite part of my job as an academic is that I often have the
opportunity to blend different epistemologies, knowledge bases or
practices together to create something new. This alchemy is exciting;
often helping challenge the notion of “this is the way we do things
around here” and generate “what ifs” and even “why nots”. This could be
considered the norm when it comes to devising research methodologies
but are we as brave when it comes to creating curricula?
I am not convinced we have enough flexibility about how we create
curricula not least because of necessary academic conventions,
institutional processes or professional body requirements. Often the
structure of the programme is in part “predetermined” with the institution’s
notion of modularisation and credit weighting. Indeed there are often
numerous pulls on what should be there; think content on personal
development planning and a prescribed module for dissertations. Do
these predetermined elements stifle our creativity and prevent us from