Future Faculty Learning Community
The Future Faculty Learning Community is a professional development cohort for graduate students and post-doctoral scholars at Illinois State University. The goal of this group is to provide a support network for members of the Illinois State community who wish to become faculty members or gain skills and insight into their teaching while at the University.
This learning community is organized in the Fall and Spring semesters and is always centered around a scholarly book or collection of scholarly materials. Reading in advance is not required, as summaries are provided each week, and the discussions are designed to take place without deep knowledge of the text required. At the end of the learning community, participants who attend at least four meetings will receive a copy of the text.
For Spring 2024, we are reading Teaching What You Don’t Know (Harvard UP, 2009). This book is a guide to navigating new teaching situations, especially for classes that you haven’t taught before and classes outside of your direct area of expertise.
Participants can join us in person at the Center for Integrated Professional Development, in Williams Hall 326 or via Teams with an invitation. This is a casual meeting to discuss teaching ideas and experiences. You are welcome to bring your lunch and leave when you need to.
All graduate students, post-doctoral scholars at Illinois State are welcome to join us! To participate, please join the Future Faculty Programs Teams site. If you have questions or difficulty accessing the teams site, please email David Giovagnoli.
Spring 2024
Meetings:
All meetings are on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m on the following dates
Dates:
January 26
February 9
February 23
March 8
March 22
April 5
April 19
Location:
Williams 326 with the option to attend via Teams
Facilitator:
David Giovagnoli, Center for Integrated Professional Development
Hye Hyon Kim, Center for Integrated Professional Development
Ridita Mizan, Center for Integrated Professional Development
Session I: Embracing the Role of "Content Novice"
Friday, January 26
Everyone in academia knows it and no one likes to admit it: teachers often have to teach courses in areas they don’t know very well. This session is designed to help you embrace the role of “content novice” and offers advice about how to do so effectively.
Session 2: Switching Gears from Expert to Learner
Friday, February 9
This session encourages instructors to think of themselves as learners rather than as experts, pointing out that authority in the classroom doesn't come only, or even mostly, from perfect knowledge.
Session 3: Building Credibility in the Classroom
Friday, February 23
Let’s face it, teaching outside of the comfort zone is more the rule than the exception. In this session, we’ll discuss strategies that help you build confidence and classroom credibility.
Session 4: Pause to Reflect
Friday, March 8
At approximately the midpoint in the semester, it’s time to pause for some reflection on what we’ve learned so far and what your goals are for the rest of the semester. We’ll discuss some easy-to-implement strategies for getting feedback from your students.
Session 5: Thinking on Your Feet
Friday, March 22
This session addresses tactics for reaching unresponsive students, maintaining discussion, and offers tips for introducing new topics in a lively style.
Session 6: Teaching Students You Don't Understand
Friday, April 5
When students don’t share your cultural background, lifestyle, or assumptions about how to behave in a classroom, you may face challenges to your credibility. This session will help you learn how to build your credibility as you gauge your students’ perspectives and learning.
Session 7: Preparing to Teach a New Topic and a New Course
Friday, April 19
Knowing how to prepare to teach a new course, understanding how much to prepare, deciding how to present yourself, evaluating how to be the best instructor for the students you have, are some of the things we’ll be discussing in this last session.
If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in a Center event or service, please contact the Center at ProDev@ilstu.edu.