Ruth Penfold-Mounce is Deputy Head for Teaching, Learning and Assessment and Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of York. She is passionate about promoting the inherent value of Teaching and Scholarship (T&S) careers and innovative pedagogy as a route to creating an inclusive learning community that enhances creativity and the student voice.
In 2019, Ruth left her research-focused academic career and transferred to a T&S career track. As a pioneer of T&S careers, she has spearheaded a strategic vision to promote T&S leadership and the need for high-calibre pedagogic scholarship. She is dedicated to improving teaching colleagues’ professional development as part of a community of practice.
Through her commitment to improving student learning, Ruth is a keen advocate for innovative pedagogy, particularly through digitally enhanced embodied learning. Using podcasts to enable learning on the move, she seeks to creatively inspire learners to engage with sensitive and complex social issues whilst moving through space and place. Her leadership in curriculum design embeds students as partners in order to elevate the student voice.
Ruth is an award-winning HE teacher and scholar, having been nominated for the British Society of Criminology National Award for Excellence in Teaching, and having won the British Sociological Association Sage Prize for Innovation and Excellence in 2021. She holds a University of York Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for Career Excellence and has been repeatedly shortlisted for — and won — institutional student-nominated awards.
As an Advance HE Senior Fellow and a Visiting Pedagogic Fellow at the University of Bath in the Centre for Death and Society, she regularly appears in blogs, vlogs and podcasts, as well as on radio programmes and television documentaries. Her continuous contributions highlight Ruth’s dedication to an inclusive learning community, accessible knowledge, and creative teaching design focused on maximising the potential of all HE students.