ABSTRACT
The Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) initiative is a central feature of the strategy of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to raise the status of teaching in higher education. This initiative is designed to ‘recognise, celebrate and promote excellence by rewarding teachers who have made a demonstrable impact on student learning and who can enthuse, motivate and influence others to do the same’ (HEFCE, 2005: 9). A principal policy objective is to rebalance the perceived emphasis within the sector on research achievement. At a briefing for CETL staff in May 2006, a senior HEFCE officer claimed that an intended outcome for the CETL initiative is to ‘achieve esteem for teaching excellence that is at least comparable with that accorded to research’.
