Early Career Learning Community
The Center for Integrated Professional Development’s Early Career Learning Community offers course instructors in their first through third years of service at ISU a combination of professional development and peer support. Join us for a series of engaging conversations on teaching, learning, and thriving in academia.
For fall 2025, our focus will be on the book A Pedagogy of Kindness, by Catherine Denial. This book presents a fresh perspective on teaching that focuses on ensuring justice, believing in our students and colleagues, and contributing to both student and faculty success. Denial offers practical techniques for creating syllabi, developing student assessments, and creating trust and belonging in the classroom.
Copies of A Pedagogy of Kindness are available to attendees. An electronic version is accessible through Milner Library, and the audiobook is available through Normal Public Library (for those with a library card). To request a copy, please email Dana Karraker, dmkarra@ilstu.edu.
Registration is not required to attend these sessions. Details about each session will be sent through the Early Career listserv and posted on the Early Career Teams site. If you would like to be added to either of these, please contact Dr. Dana Karraker, dmkarra@ilstu.edu
Fall 2025
Meetings:
All meetings are from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on their respective days.
Location:
Williams 326 with the option to attend via Zoom
Facilitator:
Dana Karraker, Center for Integrated Professional Development
Session I
Wednesday, September 17 or Thursday, September 18
We'll discuss the Introduction and Chapter 1: Kindness Towards Self. This chapter emphasizes the importance of self-care as we navigate environments that often promote overwork, perfectionism, and self-sacrifice.
Session 2
Wednesday, October 22 or Thursday, October 23
This session will focus on Chapter 2: Kindness in the Syllabus and Chapter 3: Kindness in Assessment. Denial asks us to challenge authoritarian teaching methods that are commonplace in educational settings. We’ll explore how the language we use in syllabi, our positionalities, and identities in the classroom, shape our relationships with students. She offers suggestions for creating classrooms where students feel seen, supported, and empowered to learn.
Session 3
Wednesday, December 3 or Thursday, December 4
We'll wrap up the book with Chapter 4: Kindness in the Classroom. As we look toward the end of the semester, we’ll reflect on intentional practices we’ve implemented and how we saw our students and ourselves grow. We’ll also look ahead to the spring semester, discussing practices we’ll stop, start, and continue as we work to create learning spaces where both educators and students thrive.
Workshops and other Learning Communities
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Professional Development Workshops
Our mission is to support course instructors in their pursuit of excellence and innovation in teaching and the effective use of technology. See our current professional development offerings.
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Future Faculty Learning Community
This circle is appropriate for any graduate student, whether currently teaching as an instructor of record, serving as a teaching assistant, or considering college teaching as a career path.
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Learning Communities
Learning communities are professional development opportunities where a group of instructors meets regularly to discuss pedagogical strategies and challenges to improve their teaching. We offer the following learning communities this semester.
If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in a Center event or service, please contact the Center at ProDev@ilstu.edu.