Course Description
The Contemporary Educator Program (CEP) was a multi-year faculty development program that I designed/facilitated during my time as the Associate Dean and Dean for the School of Contemporary Teaching & Learning (SCTL). The program consisted of individual courses (e.g., CEP101, CEP102, CEP103, etc...) that covered a wide range of topics including active learning, digital technology, assessment, curriculum design, inclusive pedagogies, and scholarship.
Ref - see attached examples of the program curriculum featuring the CC license.
Narrative
I became the primary facilitator of the CEP program in 2019 to 2025 and was given the opportunity to teach more than 100+ full-time faculty as they completed the multi-year program. Throughout my teaching - I used an anonymous stop/start/continue feedback and other strategies to improve the learning experience and refine my teaching practice.
What did I learn from this experience?
Lesson One - You can’t please everyone…
I try my best to balance theory, practice, group work, and reflection in my sessions. With that said, I once received the following feedback after a session on innovative teaching strategies with a group of new/seasoned faculty:
I love group work and learning from my colleagues. They have such great ideas!
I would like to spend more time learning about theory and practice from André as I don’t have much to share in group discussions. I also want to learn from the lead facilitator.
The last session was a great balance of theory, practice, and group reflection! Really grateful for the diverse activities. Don’t change anything!
Evidently, I had failed to satisfy all members of the cohort as everyone seemed to have a different expectation. This is not uncommon as it becomes of the most common fallacies of group work – i.e., hate it or love it with little in-between.
My approach to this mixed feedback was to remain true to my personal values of trust and transparency. I began the subsequent lesson, as always, by sharing the aggregate feedback with the group. My inability to please all participants created a space where I was able to showcase the limitations in lesson planning for diverse audiences and humanized the teaching experience. Many began to smile and laugh as they recounted similar experiences where their students had mixed receptions to their lessons.
As a follow-up, I offered to co-construct the following lessons in different manners by rebalancing a few items so that we could collectively find a stronger rhythm. My ability to listen and respond was well received as the feedback improved throughout the weeks to include comments such as:
André always takes the time to listen to our concerns and interest. I like how he has been modifying each session using our feedback. Great work!
I began using a similar approach in my courses by asking students for more feedback. André was right, they loved it and my students are mixing well.
Loved the session on integrated group work dynamics. I used a few strategies with my students but fel more confident knowing that I don’t need to be perfect in my teaching. We are all learning. “Just breathe” as André says… 😊
In the end, group dynamics truly shape the learning environment in ways that we may never predict but this was a good reminder that authenticity creates trust in the learning process.
Lesson Two - Difficult Conversations are sometimes Required
All learning environments provide us with new opportunities to grow and reflect on our practice. This is especially true when we encounter complex scenarios that challenge our professional values and teaching philosophies.
For example, I once received negative feedback on a Guest Speaker in my anonymous stop/start/continue survey. Although the comment was directed towards the guest speaker and did impact my teaching, it was clear that I had failed to prepare the group to engage in this complex discussion by re-affirming our classroom norms.
It is vital that educators promote the creation of safe spaces to learn but it is equally important to address instances that violate or challenge the safety of others. I felt it necessary to confront the situation and re-contextualize it as an opportunity to highlight the impact of unconscious bias on our teaching. I met with the appropriate parties prior to sharing my concerns with the larger group and sought permission from my guest speaker to address this feedback.
The discussion that took place will forever be one of the most impactful experiences of my career as the feedback I received solidified my belief in promoting authenticity using a pedagogy of kindness. Together we were able to collectively re-affirm our learning expectations for classroom conduct while creating space for a meaningful discussion on effective feedback. The end result was an amazingly rich conversation that was not only respectful but also thought provoking.
Some sample feedback from this session included:
Thank you for addressing this matter with haste, humility, and kindness. I appreciate you.
I am sorry you had to discuss this with us but happy that you did. We are better educators because of this experience as we all learn from our collective mistakes.
I wanted to thank you for acknowledging the impact of privilege in this discussion. You led by example by giving others a voice and acknowledging the existing power dynamics we see in our classrooms.
While carefully navigating the multi-faceted complexity of this discussion, the cohort was able to move on by collectively reflecting on our words and actions. I remain grateful to this day for my guest speaker for giving me permission to facilitate this discussion as it became evident that the cohort learned a great deal from the experience.