York St John University lecturer wins International Scholarship

York St John University Principal Lecturer in Psychology, Dr Jacqueline Akhurst, has been selected as one of the successful recipients of a Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2012 International Scholarship, announced on Thursday 24 May 2012. 

Dr Akhurst has a passionate commitment to the development of Community Psychology in the UK.  She said: “I am thrilled to have been chosen for the HEA International Scholarship Scheme.  My project aims to investigate ways of supporting students' learning when engaging in community based learning in Africa, addressing the impacts on students' development and knowledge related to employability.  The work will also reflect on what learning in this way might teach us about enhancing local community engagement in the UK and integrating such work into psychology programmes.”

The award programme has been created by HEA to support the development of learning and teaching across UK higher education.  Jacqueline will deliver specific outcomes for dissemination within the UK sector at the end of her scholarship, after spending time in South Africa at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and in Tanzania at St John’s University of Tanzania. 

Professor Craig Mahoney, Chief Executive of the HEA, said: “I am delighted to announce these prestigious awards. The award winners will work closely with the HEA over the coming months and years to help us to make a real difference to the learning experience of potentially thousands of students.

“The landscape of UK higher education continues to change at a rapid pace and it’s vital that we can share learning, not just from the UK but from around the world, if we are all to continue to meet the diverse needs of our students and those who teach them.  I’m confident that the research outputs from our new Doctoral programme, whether from discipline-specific or generic pedagogic research, will have a significant impact on both policy and practice. I look forward to working with our award winners as they develop and carry out their projects.”

Full list of award winners is available on the HEA website.