TA’ing a Community Engaged Learning Course: Exploring the Roles, Tension Points and Opportunities for Professional Development

Event Date & Time

Event Description

In this session we will introduce community engaged learning (CEL) as a growing teaching strategy here at UBC.  We discuss what community engaged learning is, its principles, and the role of TAs in relation to instructor(s), student(s) and community partners/stakeholders.  We will explore the complexities, richness and challenges of these roles, and through discussion, activities and roleplay, we will enhance participants’ understanding of and skills that TAs can apply in community engaged courses.  

 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Be able to describe the principles of community engaged learning (CEL)
• Know the various roles and the complexity of CEL TAs that go beyond grading and assessment
• Identify and practice the different skills of a successful CEL TA
• Identify opportunities for professional growth in their own practice as a CEL TA

 Eligibility

The TA Institute is open to all undergraduate TAs, graduate students who are interested in teaching, and all graduate student TAs. This session is not open to general undergraduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, or faculty.

Facilitators

Kyle Nelson works at UBC’s Centre for Community Engaged Learning.  His focus is on capacity building for faculty to engage with community through coaching, professional development programs and curricular consultation.  He is passionate about supporting learning environments that enable students to discover new knowledge, clarify their values and emerging passions, as well as develop professional skills.

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To be completed – Pre/Post Session Online Module

Theme(s)

If you wish to complete this workshop as part of the theme Transformative Growth in Learning, you must complete the pre-session online module by January 13 at 9 AM and the post-session online module by January 20 at noon to receive the letter of completion. 

If you wish to complete this workshop as part of the theme Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning, you must complete the pre-session online module by January 13 at 9 AM and the post-session online module by January 20 at noon to receive the letter of completion. 

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TA Institute

This year’s TA Institute includes sessions on Inclusive, Student-Centered Learning, Teaching Career Preparations, Teaching Fundamentals, Transformative Growth in Learning, and Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning. If you are interested in impacting your current or future TAships, or in improving your teaching skills, be sure to join us for one or more of these 2 hour, interactive workshops.

This year, workshops in the TA institute are organized into 5 themes, and if you complete 3 workshops in a theme, and do the related pre- & post-session online modules, you are eligible for a letter of completion that you can include in your Teaching Portfolio and CV. These letters will include a brief description of any themes that you completed, and how the work you did in those themes supports your development as a teacher.

This year’s themes are:

• Inclusive, Student-Centered Learning 
• Teaching Career Preparations 
• Teaching Fundamentals 
• Transformative Growth in Learning 
• Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning