Highs and lows, ebbs and flows: buckle up for the educational development rollercoaster ride.

Multi-purpose vehicles

University centres for learning and teaching (CLTs) have multiple purposes and impacts. They can hold, curate and foster expertise in learning and teaching and offer opportunities for this to be recognised and rewarded. They can act as innovation hubs and ideas incubators, supporting practitioner and/or pedagogical research to provide an evidence base for teaching and learning enhancements. They can offer opportunities for those who teach and support learning to gain professional qualifications, and to join peer communities of practice. Through these communities and through other events, CLT also act as connectors – facilitating exchanges on common themes across institutional boundaries. They often also act as interpreters and filters for evidence that may not be universally accessible – supporting those who are not experts in educational research to understand the benefits, validity and reliability of different evidence types.