Teaching and Education

The Academy’s Teaching and Education work encompasses a range of areas related to the SHAPE disciplines, including teaching and education in higher education, skills and the skills inherent to SHAPE disciplines, and languages and language learning.

We work to support and drive a healthy education ecosystem across our disciplines by monitoring and responding to developments in student and staff numbers, fees and funding, pedagogy, careers, and other important education policy areas.

We promote debate about the future of higher education and the development of a broad and balanced curriculum. We actively monitor the health of our disciplines through our SHAPE Observatory, evidence gathering and responding to data releases around student and qualification numbers. A particular area of focus has been on languages and language learning; strategically important subjects for the future health of the economy and society, but also ones with vulnerabilities throughout the educational pipeline. Our work also addresses current issues of debate within the higher education sector, including highlighting the diverse career pathways of graduates from postgraduate research degrees.

Our skills work aims to ensure that social science, humanities and arts subjects have a strong voice in debates about future skills needs, and champion the role of SHAPE skills in UK society and the economy. Our work has identified and articulated the skills inherent to the study of SHAPE disciplines, and aims to demonstrate their value to individuals, society and the economy.

We engage with relevant stakeholders in all of our work, in order to promote dialogue, support initiatives, and maintain networks relevant to our disciplines, including learned societies and subject associations.

For details of the governing committees and networks we convene across our higher education and research work, see the Policy Committees page.