Innovative Professional Learning Series Supports Teaching at Trent
A new series designed to further enhance teaching at Trent has been going strong since it launched in the beginning of September. Hosted by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, this series includes more than 35 sessions offering more than 70 hours of content. The sessions provide opportunities for educators to share best practices and discuss strategies for fostering engaged learning and student success.
The philosophy behind it all is built on the principles of collaborative and active learning techniques, practices that emphasize the sharing of strategies among peers.
“The sessions are all interactive,” said Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, the Educational Developer at the Centre. “Interactive in the sense of key questions, shared experiences and understanding too that the persons who are facilitating the sessions are as interested in learning from the participants and having that collaborative learning. It’s very open, it’s informal, it’s inviting dialogue and it’s inviting conversation.”
The interactive element is certainly appealing to many faculty members, including Philosophy Professor and Chair of the philosophy department, Byron Stoyles, who will be facilitating one of the sessions in November.
“Sharing information really helps. It makes us better at what we do and helps the students,” he said. “I hope to get something out of this too, it’s a genuine sharing of ideas.”
It’s a sharing of ideas that will have far-reaching implications within Trent’s educational ecosystem. “In the broad definition as to who would benefit, at the end of the day, it would be all learners,” said Hanley-Dafoe. “Our learners, faculty or instructors, those who are in front of the classroom or those who are part of the classroom would benefit from being exposed to some of best practices and new directions in pedagogy and renewed conversations with an emphasis on enhancing the student learning experience.”
Spotlight Series Illuminates Tough Topics
In asking faculty members what discussion topics they would be interested in seeing, the Centre received a tremendous amount of feedback pointing towards teaching topics that are often controversial or sensitive. The collaborative design of the series presents a perfect opportunity for educators to share their methods of dealing with such subjects.
Therefore, a Spotlight Series of three sessions has been put together, where the presentations and resulting discussions will focus on the teaching of controversial and sensitive subject matter.
“We’re building on the incredible opportunity there is in teaching sensitive and controversial topics,” said the Centre’s Teaching Awards Coordinator, Adam Guzkowski. “There is room there for really deep and really engaged learning. At the same time, there can be incredible challenges for both the student and the instructor, so it’s important to find productive ways to negotiate that so as to enhance opportunities for learning.”
Stoyles, whose session is part of the Spotlight Series, feels that shared experiences is one of the best methods for finding ways to address these types of subjects. “I think it’s really helpful to share our strategies,” he said. “because most of us have been in situations where teaching these subjects has not gone well and, I suspect, most of us have been in situations where teaching these topics has gone extremely well.”
Upholding Trent’s Identity through Pedagogical Discussion
The professional learning series is very much in line with the institution’s philosophies around education, as well as the vision of its leaders.
“Trent is renowned for its quality of teaching and its quality of education and staying at the forefront of education that is unparalleled,” said Hanley-Dafoe. “Because of the nature of our seminars, our tutorials, our labs, the interaction that we have with our students, we have opportunities to push our teaching practice farther than probably most at other institutions, just by the very nature of what Trent was established on.”
“We have room to explore and it’s a safe environment. There’s emphasis on creating positive learning environments and we know they are established through pedagogy, established through the physical space and it’s established through discussions around teaching.”
“At the end of the day, CTL views this opportunity as a privilege that we get to work with all of these people and bring them all together to have these rich discussions. Because we know it creates a positive learning culture and it also creates an amazing experience for our students.”
An event calendar and full descriptions for each event can be found on the Centre for Teaching and Learning website.