Teaching Communities
Opportunities to discuss teaching together
Do you want to engage with colleagues from across the University around issues of teaching and learning? Would you appreciate exploring new ideas and approaches you might use in the classroom? We invite you to browse through the opportunities below and let us know your interest in joining one of our communities to explore approaches and topics in teaching and learning.
Teaching Circles
A Teaching Circle is a group of faculty who come together regularly to discuss a particular topic of interest related to teaching. The most overarching definition of a Teaching Circle is a group of faculty who come together regularly to discuss a particular topic of interest related to teaching. Introduced by Pat Hutchings in her book Making Teaching Community Property (1996), the concept of the teaching circle has seen many decades of adoption and evolution, but a few characteristics are still core to the approach: the circle involves commitment, lasts at least one term, and actively addresses teaching challenges shared by the Circle’s participants.
For many years, CNDLS has facilitated faculty learning communities and communities of practice. Teaching Circles are very similar to these, but differ slightly in their relative informality and loosely structured approach to discussion sessions. The Teaching Circle model places faculty at the helm and combines elements of the more common CNDLS programming of cohorts (CNDLS-driven) and faculty learning communities (faculty-driven). Reach out to Kim Lubreski with questions about teaching circles.
We’re always welcoming new participants to our Circles, and we regularly add new Circles to our lineup. Fill out our Spring 2023 Interest Form by Jan. 20, 2023.
Faculty Book Club
Our faculty book club meets regularly on Friday afternoons to discuss titles usually pertaining to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, inclusive pedagogy, and/or practical pedagogy. This spring, join CNDLS staff in reading Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by UNC Professors Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy (Aug 2022). We’ll meet online six times over the spring semester. Sign up by January 20th to receive a copy of the book and the Zoom link to join the discussions.
Join our faculty book club by registering before Jan. 20, 2023.
Faculty Cohorts and Communities of Practice
A Faculty Cohort is a semester or year-long opportunity for a small group of faculty to engage with colleagues across the university to re-imagine an aspect of their teaching or their students’ learning. Community and interdisciplinary are two strengths of the cohort model. Together, participants explore a teaching theme while redesigning and implementing a course or activity. Themes might include well-being, blended learning, or inclusive pedagogy, to name a few. Depending on the structure and goals of the cohort, it might take place in-person or in a hybrid structure.
Although cohorts typically last one year, some provide the opportunity to continue as part of a Community of Practice. Communities of Practice gather to stay in touch with the larger group and extend their conversations around the teaching theme. Currently, the following cohort is accepting applications:
Engelhard Faculty Fellows Cohort
The Engelhard Project for Connecting Life and Learning focuses on teaching to the whole student. The Fellows program helps faculty incorporate health and well-being issues into the classroom.
More about the Engelhard cohort.
Looking for something else? Bringing faculty from different disciplines together is important to us. We’d love to know what kind of teaching community opportunity you’re looking for.
