UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH-HUMBER
Educating the educators: How Guelph-Humber instructors are staying current on teaching philosophies, techniques

"The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you." - B.B. King 

At the University of Guelph-Humber (U of GH), it's not just the students who eagerly crave knowledge; it's also our instructors who wish to learn more about the art of teaching.

For a second year, U of GH is offering bursaries to successful instructor applicants to attend teaching and learning conferences to keep up to date with cutting-edge developments in teaching and the post-secondary education sector.

This year, the successful applicants who will each attend a conference to sharpen their skills and expand their knowledge are Elaine Chan-Dow, participating in the Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching at the Taylor Institute at University of Calgary, and Dr. Nalini Ramlal, going to the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Saskatoon, Sask. 

Here's what they had to say about their teaching pedagogies and what they hope to glean at the conferences:

Elaine Chan-Dow

Elaine Chan-Dow (who primarily teaches classes in the Media & Communication Studies program) was selected by the review committee because of her commitment to professional growth and development in the field of teaching and learning. This includes her interest in universal design for learning, inclusive pedagogy, and culturally responsive teaching practices. To Chan-Dow, this means equity in education.

"More than access, students are empowered to learn. You're giving the agency back to the students and without boundaries, so they feel interested and engaged," she explained.

Chan-Dow shared that she's "very excited" about this opportunity, because in her experience, universities typically only give full-time or tenured instructors development opportunities, such as this one. But Guelph-Humber allowed partial-load instructors to apply for a bursary, a move she called "inclusive and equitable for all."

Moreover, Chan-Dow said her interest in teaching started in graduate school, while she held teaching assistant roles. Since then, she's hungered to know more about the best practices to engage and activate students' minds when delivering information. During this time, she also earned a certificate for teaching post-secondary students through a student-centric approach.

Over her career, she's taught at several schools, noting that no two student bodies are the same; what works in one classroom might not resonate in another, often requiring a different approach. Chan-Dow also noted that when she started teaching, perhaps one student required special learning accommodation, whereas now, that number can be more than 10 per cent per class, with this shift especially occurring after the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes evaluating a course on more than just exams - incorporate writing evaluations, workshops, etc. 

"It's constantly looking at the changing environment and the changes in the learner, especially post-COVID. I know there's a big change in learning style. [We need to] adapt and accommodate that," she said.

At the conference, Chan-Dow said she looks forward to learning more about best practice in student-centric learning and to listen to keynote presentations, notably from Dr. Eliana El Khoury on removing barriers in education and achieving equity on alternative assessments. She's also excited to learn more about culturally responsive teaching to expand on the perspectives she can deliver to students, with Canadian schools often teaching from a Western perspective. She's eager to meet with fellow media studies academics at the conference, too.

Dr. Nalini Ramlal

The review committee selected Dr. Ramlal (who teaches classes in the Psychology, Community Social Services, and Liberal Studies departments) for a bursary because of her commitment to enhancing her teaching pedagogies to foster fair and equitable access for all learners, with a unique perspective as an instructor and mental health practitioner. 

"I've been an instructor of higher education since 2014, and since then, I have seen so many shifts in teaching and learning and the many challenges that both instructors and students face as a result of these shifts," she said, explaining that receiving this bursary is meaningful to keep up with those challenges, including the mental health struggles students may face and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). "I feel as the world shifts, so do our responsibilities as instructors and responsibilities of students. I'm hoping to gain a better perspective [at the conference] of how to utilize technology in our classroom while maintaining high learning standards."  

Dr. Ramlal's fair and equitable teaching approach aims to reduce extra stress students may incur in the classroom by putting the student at the "centre" to empower them as an autonomous self-reflective learner. It requires active student engagement through group work, participating in class discussions with inquiry-based learning through research, versus traditional forms of learning through lecturing alone.

Part of this teaching philosophy includes providing extra support if students need it, even if it isn't in their formal accommodation letter, she explained. This approach creates a more inclusive environment because she recognizes that students balance school with other aspects of life. "I do my best to help them and accommodate them in their circumstances, rather than adding to their already full plate, while of course, staying within policies and upholding academic integrity," Dr. Ramlal said.

As a mental health practitioner, she incorporates the practice of journaling into her approach to teaching to reflect on how a class went if a new strategy or assessment was implemented. Dr. Ramlal writes about what went well, what didn't, and how she plans to overcome challenges. 

At the conference, she hopes to learn a lot, including about integrating AI inside the classroom in a way that upholds academic integrity and enhances meaningful learning. In fact, she's currently enrolled in a four-week program called AI in Education and is also registered for a pre-conference workshop about AI. Additionally, Dr. Ramlal is interested in better understanding how to incorporate non-Western perspectives into her teaching, especially Indigenous ones. And as a professional who's passionate about mental health, she also hopes to learn additional forms of self-care and balance for educators in higher education.

"We've seen so many shifts, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. And I feel like when we show up as our best selves for our students, they get a very different type of learning experience," Dr. Ramlal said.