Teaching Excellence Awards in Higher Education: Recognition, Evidence, and Dissemination in a Longitudinal Case Study of the University of Porto

Teaching excellence has become an increasingly important but contested concept in higher education, shaped by institutional priorities, policy instruments, and changing understandings of pedagogical quality. Teaching awards are widely used to recognize outstanding teaching, although institutional schemes may also encompass broader forms of pedagogical and curricular innovation. This study examines the longitudinal evolution of teaching recognition schemes and pedagogical innovation initiatives at the University of Porto, a large Portuguese public university, from 2004 onwards. A qualitative documentary analysis was conducted of regulations, calls for applications, application forms, evaluation criteria, evidence requirements, jury arrangements, and dissemination mechanisms associated with successive institutional initiatives. The findings show a gradual expansion from an initial focus on excellence in e-learning to broader forms of pedagogical excellence, project-based innovation, curricular experimentation, and educational innovation. Over time, recognition shifted from individual teachers to pedagogical teams, funded projects, curricular units, and institutional innovation mechanisms. Evidence requirements also became more formalized, incorporating reflective accounts, evaluation grids, impact documentation, and dissemination expectations. The study concludes that pedagogical awards can operate not only as symbolic recognition mechanisms but also as institutional policy instruments that shape what counts as excellent teaching and how pedagogical knowledge circulates within the university.