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Conversations and the Culture
Important things get talked about. To help instructors improve their teaching and raise the profile of teaching, we must, therefore, create opportunities that encourage instructors to take time to talk about teaching and learning on a regular basis. This will make teaching a more visible part of day-to-day work.
It may sound easy to start discussions about teaching. In our experience, however, people are more likely to participate in conversations that begin with fore-thought about their structure, timing, and focus. If people attend the first time and find that the conversation was poorly organized or lacked focus or usefulness for them, they are less likely to return in the future. On the other hand, if people are exposed to ideas they would not normally have access to in their daily work, and they find these ideas intriguing or useful, they are more likely to join in the discussion and keep coming back in the future.
Rewards
Perhaps the most important and difficult method for raising the profile of teaching is to develop a reward system that reflects a commitment to good teaching. For example, a department can underscore its commitment to good teaching by making it clear that participation in peer review will be considered a contribution to the department's goals and will be recognized as such in tenure, promotion, and salary decisions.
Departments might also consider recognizing presentations or workshops for other faculty on good teaching in a field as a form of publication because it helps distribute knowledge. These possibilities might be more appropriate for some departments than others, but, in any case, a commitment to good teaching will require more than rhetoric to be taken seriously.
In the following sections, we will present some basic ideas for engaging different groups of people in discussions about teaching and learning. There is a strong temptation to begin these discussion with graduate student groups in the department because: 1) graduate student instructors are typically receptive to and even ask for help in developing teaching, and 2) faculty can make participation mandatory in order to ensure that people attend discussions.
Although we strongly advocate helping graduate students develop as teachers, we feel that emphasis must be placed on developing teaching conversations among faculty and staff colleagues. Faculty, after all, provide continuity to the university. Therefore, if teaching is to gain more importance within the University's culture, it is crucial that those who are always here talk about it.
For each of the groups listed below, you might choose one or two techniques or programs designed to encourage discussions about teaching and learning within your department, college, or area group.
Present and Prospective Faculty
Faculty Development Programs
Pedagogical Colloquium
Assessment of Programs
Teaching Circles
Teaching Seminars
Pedagogical Colloquium
Pedagogical Courses
Student Organizations
Teaching Circles
Teaching Seminars
Teaching Workshops
Pedagogical Courses
Student Organizations
Teaching Seminars
Teaching Workshops
