Faculty interest groups and reading circles

About faculty interest groups

Faculty interest groups are faculty groups that meet regularly, usually once a month, to learn together. In contrast to a working group, these are spaces primarily focused on professional development, mobilizing expertise, multi-disciplinary knowledge sharing or creation, mutual support, and peer validation (Mihai, 2022; Wenger et al., 2002).

Our faculty interest groups attempt to follow the good design practices from Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (2002) and Wright & Lambert (n.d.):

Bring participants together regularly.
Ensure that the group can evolve and shift in focus.
Encourage the introduction and discussion of new perspectives that come or are brought in from outside.
Accept different levels of participation: core members, observers, occasionally active members, and so on.
Encourage individual or group activities, public or private.
Explicitly identify and value contributions.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning is available to support the initiation and facilitation of faculty interest groups on topics related to teaching and learning. Unless the group is in a team-forming stage, you can join any time—kindly contact us via our form.

About the reading circles

The reading circles invite faculty and teaching staff to explore readings that deepen our understanding of a theme, foster discussion, and explore related teaching and learning practices.

The objectives are to:

Support instructors in their exploration of a topic
Provide an opportunity to reflect upon existing practices from a new perspective or to learn about new teaching and learning practices

Active faculty interest groups

Meets monthly to discuss the role of generative AI in the university classroom. New members are welcome.

Co-facilitated by Mike Barcomb and Ariel Harlap.

The purpose of this interest group is to support faculty in applying or improving their application of contemplative practices in their classroom to promote well-being and a compassionate classroom, to further course goals, and to support learning. Meets regularly for discussion, exploration and guided practice to get first-hand experience with different practices; experimenting to receive peer feedback; inviting members to lead thematic sessions; and potentially co-creating resources to support our practices. New members are welcome.

Co-facilitated by Cristina Galofre Gomez, Prof. Rosemary C. Reilly, Dr, and Ariel Harlap.

Upcoming faculty interest groups and reading circles

DEC

6

Contemplative pedagogies faculty interest group
Friday, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

How it works

What might happen during faculty interest group meetings?

There is no single, correct approach to faculty interest group meetings and it will depend upon the interests and needs of the members. Some possibilities include:

Structured storytelling around specific challenges / topics
Member spotlight: a member presents their practice or challenge to gather feedback and learn together.
Guided discussion around members-selected materials (video/readings)
Inviting a guest speaker
Sharing resources and developing a collective/curated knowledge bank

Starting a new faculty interest group

If you would like to start a faculty interest group on a topic related to teaching and learning, kindly contact us to set up a meeting. The CTL will be pleased to help find interested members and facilitate the group’s success.

What to expect during reading circles?

Participants register for a reading circle session to receive the reading materials and, if online, a link to the Zoom event. Depending on the format, participants may receive a list of reflection questions before each session.

During each session, a facilitator leads a discussion based on the selected article or book chapter. The facilitator might guide participants through reflection or even practicing an method discussed in the article to provide them with a first-hand experience.

Past sessions