This year's National Teaching Fellowships were primarily awarded to people who have made an impact in their institution and across the sector on issues surrounding equality, diversity and inclusion. Catherine Coelho, Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth, has been supporting people with learning disabilities at the university for a number of years and the support she has put in place for students who may struggle with the demands at university have been transformational.
We asked her what her 2020 National Teaching Fellowship award meant to her and what her hopes are for the future. She said: "I was absolutely delighted to be awarded a 2020 National Teaching Fellowship, especially because this is the year they were awarded to people who have made an impact for equality and diversity issues.
"I am a carer for my daughter, who has a learning disability, and people often say to me, 'how do you do it?'. I want this award to be a platform for people to approach me so I can tell them how I manage to juggle my many roles, responsibilities and tasks.
"Being an NTF gives you access to a fantastic group of people and it has opened up a whole world of opportunity for me to work with others, learn with others and to bring about some more collaboration."
Find out what Catherine had to say about her award in full, below:
Nominations for National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) 2021 are now open, find out more and download your nomination pack here.