Creating a Framework for Developing Sessional Teachers in Higher Education
A practical guide for education leaders
Neil Sutherland (Editor), Alex Standen (Editor)
Across higher education, a significant proportion of teaching is carried out by non-permanent staff, be they graduate teaching assistants, associate lecturers, visiting lecturers, postdoctoral teachers or hourly paid staff. Their work is invaluable to the sector, yet they frequently lack access to structured professional development and institutional support.
Creating a Framework for Developing Sessional Teachers in Higher Education aims to address this problem with guidance for the HE leaders who employ and manage sessional teachers. It offers a comprehensive framework that will enable education leaders to improve the experience and effectiveness of sessional staff through practical guidance, evidence-informed recommendations, best practice case studies, sector-wide research, and the lived experience of academic leaders. The book explores key areas including induction, teaching, learning and assessment practices, mentoring, reward and recognition, community building and ongoing professional development. It presents strategies for embedding consistency and quality across departments and disciplines while recognising the individuality and diverse contributions of sessional teachers. With clear, actionable guidance and insights from across the UK HE sector, this book is an essential resource for education leaders such as programme directors, department heads, faculty managers, and anyone involved in academic staffing and teaching development. It champions an inclusive, sustainable approach to educational leadership – one that values and rewards all contributors to student learning.
List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
List of abbreviations
Introduction: Framing the challenge: Supporting and developing sessional teachers in higher education
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
Part I: Foundations of best practice
Introduction: Foundations of best practice for supporting sessional teachers
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
1 Building an understanding of sessional teachers; motivation, opportunities, challenges and capital
Lesley Glass
2 Enabling sessional teachers’ professional learning: The foundation of expertise in teaching
Helen King
3 Supporting GTAs and early career tutors: Research insights and holistic approaches
M. Chiara La Sala
Part II: Cornerstones of support and development
Introduction: Cornerstones of support and development
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
4 Designing an institution wide programme of induction and ongoing professional development for sessional teachers: Some general principles
Richard Bale
5 Observing teaching-related practices and being observed: Opportunities for reciprocal development, empowerment and transformation
Martin Compton
6 Supporting professional recognition and inspiring future careers: A ‘Mentoring HE Practice Scheme’ for early career staff in a research-intensive institution
Eugenia Kravariti, Sabrina Poma, Stefania Tognin, Kelly Diederen, Steve Lukito, Madeleine Oakley, Brenda Williams and Juliet Foster
Part III: Intercultural and inclusive approaches
Introduction: Intercultural and inclusive approaches
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
7 Building sessional teachers’ intercultural communication skills through student-staff partnerships
Silvia Colaiacomo
8 Creating and maintaining principled spaces of learning in university classrooms
Akile Ahmet
Part IV: Supporting teaching
Introduction to Part IV: Supporting teaching
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
9 Sustaining sessional teacher confidence in the classroom through ongoing communication and involvement
Sarah Warnes
10 The importance of adopting a person-centred approach for sessional teachers who are experiencing ambiguity and uncertainty
Catherine Lillie, Aneela Zaheerali and Kate Bridgeman
11 Making group work ‘work’: How can sessional teachers facilitate effective interdisciplinary student collaboration?
Jillian Terry and Chris Blunt
Part V: Assessment and feedback
Introduction to Part V: Assessment and feedback Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
12 Improving sessional teachers’ reliability and consistency in marking through processes of standardisation and moderation
Roz Gasper and Peter Simpson
13 Supporting sessional teachers to give good quality written feedback
Lucy Pepper and Katherine Shobbrook
14 Supporting sessional teachers to turn difficult feedback conversations with students into learning opportunities
Neil Sutherland
Part VI: Community and collaboration
Introduction to Part VI: Community and collaboration
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
15 When the student becomes the teacher: Developing a departmental community of practice among PGTAs
Jon Chandler
16 Building a community of Teaching Assistants: A model for professional development, recognition, and educator identity
Sarah Plumb, Matteo Di Benedetti and Harry Day
17 Increasing sessional teachers’ sense of belonging: Co-designing an academic development ecosystem
Peter Bryant and Angela Knox
Conclusion: Reimagining the Future of Sessional Teaching
Neil Sutherland and Alex Standen
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781806551286
Number of illustrations: 25
Publication date: 01 August 2026
EPUB ISBN: 9781806551293
Paperback ISBN: 9781806551279
Neil Sutherland (Editor) 
Neil Sutherland is an Associate Professor at UCL School of Management, specialising in training and supporting Sessional Teachers. His work focuses on building practical frameworks for classroom development, aligned with his research on collaborative, participatory systems. He also shares insights via his academic YouTube vlog, Neil’s Common Room.
Alex Standen (Editor)
Alex Standen is Head of Academic Development at LSE, where she has oversight of a wide and varied portfolio of events, workshops, programmes, resources and funding opportunities for all LSE staff who teach and support learning. She has a long-standing interest in Sessional Teachers, co-leading a national Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Developers network and as one of the founding Editors of the journal Postgraduate Pedagogies, which provides a platform for GTAs to publish their scholarly reflections on teaching and learning.
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Inclusion, Diversity and Innovation in Translation Education
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Belonging and Identity in STEM Higher Education
Camille Kandiko Howson, Martyn Kingsbury,
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Creating a Framework for Developing Sessional Teachers in Higher Education
A practical guide for education leaders
Across higher education, a significant proportion of teaching is carried out by non-permanent staff, be they graduate teaching assistants, associate lecturers, visiting lecturers, postdoctoral teachers or hourly paid staff. Their work is invaluable to the sector, yet they frequently lack access to structured professional development and institutional support.
Creating a Framework for Developing Sessional Teachers in Higher Education aims to address this problem with guidance for the HE leaders who employ and manage sessional teachers. It offers a comprehensive framework that will enable education leaders to improve the experience and effectiveness of sessional staff through practical guidance, evidence-informed recommendations, best practice case studies, sector-wide research, and the lived experience of academic leaders. The book explores key areas including induction, teaching, learning and assessment practices, mentoring, reward and recognition, community building and ongoing professional development. It presents strategies for embedding consistency and quality across departments and disciplines while recognising the individuality and diverse contributions of sessional teachers. With clear, actionable guidance and insights from across the UK HE sector, this book is an essential resource for education leaders such as programme directors, department heads, faculty managers, and anyone involved in academic staffing and teaching development. It champions an inclusive, sustainable approach to educational leadership – one that values and rewards all contributors to student learning.
