SFU Surrey campus (photo: Cedric Chan, The Peak newspaper, SFU Student Ass'n)
A graduate student obtains an appointment as a TA (teaching assistant) or as a sessional instructor for an undergrad class. This is the first step toward that academic career she hopes she’ll obtain, even though she knows the current reality is that if she’s fortunate she’ll get part-time work with no guarantees, at a commensurately lower rate of pay. Her university may offer, as mine does, a “TA/TM Day” on the first day of each semester, in which instructors, staff, current and former teaching assistants, offer workshops on such topics as
• academic honesty and integrity
• improving students’ writing skills
• reflective practice in teaching
• facilitating effective discussions
• helping students in distress
• using technology in teaching
• active learning in labs and tutorials
• surviving your first tutorial
• conflict resolution in teaching
• evaluating student work fairly and efficiently
• setting the right tone in your classes
• creating an inclusive classroom
• helping students think critically & work cooperatively(SFU website)
But its still nerve-wracking, that first class–that first semester! I made a number of mistakes in my first teaching job, the most egregious being to side with “my” students when they complained about the way essays were to be marked–ignoring the fact that I had been chosen to work with (and for) “my” professor. We ironed it out over beers after a few weeks, but it was one of those embarrassing and potentially devastating mistakes which could have affected my future employment prospects as a TA. It did not, and I have taught another two semesters to date, and an online course last summer…
While one can take teacher training as a graduate student, or after one has graduated, it is more often the case that we end up as a sessional instructor, or, if we’re lucky–and good–we get an appointment as a lecturer/instructor at a college. How does one learn the best techniques for teaching?
Well, until now, the only way was either by taking teacher training, or by the hard knocks of learning on the job. The Teaching Company, through their Great Courses series of audio and video lectures, now has a twenty-four part video series called “The Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator.”
I have reviewed the entire series (each episode is approximately 30 minutes) and recommend it without hesitation. Taught by Professor Patrick N. Allitt, Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory University, South Carolina, the series is the culmination of his 30 years experience as a lecturer, and five years as the Director of Emory College’s Center for Teaching and Curriculum.
It’s pricey–but far less so than one semester of teacher training–and I would argue that you’ll come away from watching this series a much improved instructor or teaching assistant, whether or not you have taken or will later take further training. In my case, between one week’s tutorials and the following, having watched the series, I was more engaged in trying different ways to involve the students in the material, I found I had more confidence, and I used a tool which I will now use on the first day of class: tent cards, with the student’s names, which I collect at the end of the class and will bring to each succeeding tutorial until I know all their names. Nothing like being able to confidently call on a student—and you do have to call on them to answer or comment on some aspect of the text or whatever we’re discussing–by their name. It shows respect and your own interest in their welfare.
Here is a brief, audio-only excerpt from one of Professor Allitt’s lectures, from the 2nd dvd, entitled “Engaging with Discussion, Part 1:”
I found him to be very personable, with a slightly quirky delivery which quickly becomes addictive; I watched all 24 parts over a weekend!
