Abstract:

Professional conversations are emerging as an engaging and inclusive tool to support professional recognition in the UK, particularly within schemes aligned to the Professional Standards Framework (PSF). At the University of Portsmouth, the introduction of a professional conversation route within the APEX experiential pathway (apex.port.ac.uk) marked a significant turning point in how we support colleagues toward Advance HE Fellowship. What began as a pilot to offer an alternative to reflective writing quickly evolved into a more authentic approach for colleagues to share practice through dialogue and authentic professional storytelling.

This presentation traces the journey of professional conversation development at Portsmouth. It begins with the rationale: many colleagues struggled not with the Fellowship standards themselves, but with the written genre of reflective practice. A dialogic route opened the door for colleagues who think, reason and communicate more naturally and confidently through conversation. Drawing on sector literature and insights from Advance HE’s Accredited Programme Leaders Network, we shaped a model grounded in psychological safety, clarity of purpose and respect for the participant’s professional identity. We framed the conversation not as an interview, but an affirming space where colleagues explore their values, explain their decisions and show alignment to the PSF in a way that feels real and unforced.

The presentation will reflect on the practical aspects that underpin the success of professional conversations: micro-clinics, mentoring support, conversation cohorts, Padlet-based activities, annotated CPD records, and rehearsals that build fluency over time. The presentation also explores the operational challenges: scheduling, drift within cohorts, the emotional labour for reviewers, the balance between flexibility and consistency, and the importance of clear expectations. Scaling the model across all categories of Fellowship required careful coordination, administrative support and continuous standardisation for mentors and reviewers.

The presentation will share the insights gained from three years of running and evolving the professional-conversation model. Feedback from participants has been consistently strong. Many report that the professional conversation route helped them articulate their pedagogy more confidently, reconnect with their values and recognise the impact of their work. Reviewers describe richer, more nuanced evidence of practice than many written submissions provide. Further more, the presentation offers a realistic and honest view of what works, what needs attention, and how institutions can design dialogic routes that are credible, scalable and rooted in the ethos of the PSF. Colleagues interested in experiential recognition, quality assurance, and inclusive approaches to Fellowship will leave with practical strategies, design considerations and lessons learned that can be applied in their own context. Ideas presented here can also be transferred and use in a student context.

Keywords:

Dialogue, conversations, professional recognition, CPD, Fellowship.