What moves us, drives us, draws us on in our teaching? How can we communicate that which is so hard to say? When should we share, and who wants to know? Do we dare to bare ourselves so openly? Do you? 

Teaching excellence involves developing a personal philosophy of teaching. This is one of the hardest things to do in a postmodern world full of possibilities, but it is crucial to give direction to what we do. (Skelton, 2009).

In a time when deeply human qualities matter more than ever, this event takes time to sensitively explore the philosophies that underlie our teaching.

This is a ‘slow event’ in which teaching academics volunteer to bare all – anonymously. We will work as a group to each create a personal teaching philosophy in Mahara ePortfolio, which will then be anonymised and collated for public viewing. You will retain your original philosophy of teaching page for personal, ongoing use (eg career progression, CV, awards, professional accreditation); your own page is fully updatable, sharable, and exportable.

See Nicci’s example page here

What is involved?

1. Register your interest in being part of the collective by emailing Nicci at nicola.parkin@flinders.edu.au
2. Meet twice as a group at a convenient time and place between August and October to develop your personal philosophy of teaching page in a safe and collegial way:

• • 1^st meeting: Learn how to make a page in Mahara, and explore what might be included in a philosophy of teaching
  • 2^nd meeting: Share your progress, get feedback from friendly colleagues, and style and polish your page

3. When you are satisfied with your page, Nicci will make an anonymous copy ready for publishing in the online collection
4. The collection of anonymised pages is launched as part of the Festival of Learning & Teaching in November 2020
5. Participate (if you want to) in a live Teams event during the Festival, to discuss the value and application of philosophies of teaching

For more information and to register your interest contact Nicci now.

Reference: Skelton, A. M. (2009). A ‘teaching excellence’ for the times we live in? Teaching in Higher Education, 14(1), 107-112.