Tag: professional development

“Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education” MOOC

More than 30 faculty members at Waterloo have already registered to attend UBC’s MOOC [Massive Open Online Course] on “Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education”.

This MOOC runs for six weeks between January 24 and March 7. One can audit it for free, or take it for a certificate ($50 USD). Registration is open until January 24.

A group of UW instructors (supported by the Centre for Teaching Excellence) have decided to take the course and to meet a couple of times to discuss ways to apply what they are learning at Waterloo. There is still time to join this group if you are interested in learning more about reconciliation, and in thinking about what UW can do to support reconciliation. If you would like to join the UW cohort, please email Trevor Holmes (tholmes@uwaterloo.ca) to have your name added to the mailing list.

Attending this course is a first but significant step to following the recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in its “Calls to Action” (#53, 62, 65). Indigenizing postsecondary education is also a burning topic that was extensively discussed at CAUT’s new activists workshop in November.

More about the course

Week 1: Indigenous Education Through the Lens of Reconciliation
Week 2: History of Indigenous Education
Week 3: Learning from Indigenous Worldviews
Week 4: Learning from Story
Week 5: Learning from the Land
Week 6: Engaging in Respectful Relations

The learning objectives of this course are to:

  • Explore personal and professional histories and assumptions in relationship to Indigenous peoples histories and worldviews.
  • Deepen understanding and knowledge of colonial histories and current realities of Indigenous people.
  • Engage with Indigenous worldviews and perspectives that contextualize and support your understanding of the theories and practices of Indigenous education.
  • Develop strategies that contribute to the enhancement of Indigenous-settler relations in schools, organizations, and communities.
  • Explore Indigenous worldviews and learning approaches for their application to the classroom or community learning setting.
  • Engage in personal and professional discussions in an online environment with others committed to understanding and advancing reconciliation.

New Writing Support Programs for Faculty

– Nadine Fladd, University of Waterloo Writing Centre

Faculty often recommend that their undergraduate and graduate students visit the Writing Centre for individual consultations or attend our workshops, but all writers – including professors – can benefit from working with someone who will listen as they talk through their ideas, read rough work, and ask questions to clarify the ideas they want to express.

8c86a-nadineAs the Writing Centre’s new Writing and Multimodal Communication Specialist with a focus on Graduate, Postdoctoral and Faculty Support, I can support your writing goals as a faculty member – whether you’re working on a book, journal article, grant proposal, or any other project – through 50-minute consultations. These consultations are open to faculty at any stage of the writing process. I can help you work towards your writing goals by providing a sounding board as you plan and outline, helping you experience your drafts the way a reader might, facilitating goal-setting and offering coaching, and consulting on the structure, organization, or mechanics of a draft.

Weekly Writing Café

Have you set big publication goals for yourself for 2017? If so, a regular writing practice can help with productivity and motivation. Based on the success of the Writing Centre’s programming for graduate students, including Dissertation Boot Camp and the weekly Grad Writing Café, the Writing Centre will be hosting a Weekly Writing Café for faculty beginning January 11, 2017. Every Wednesday afternoon we will offer a dedicated writing space (with coffee, tea, and treats!) for faculty to write together. These loosely-structured sessions are designed to help faculty connect to a larger writing community, to stay focused, and to keep making writing progress.

Clare Bermingham, Writing Centre director, serves coffee and Timbits at a writing session for graduate students.
Clare Bermingham, Writing Centre director, serves coffee and Timbits at a writing session for graduate students.

 

We break these weekly, two-hour meetings into 25-minute writing sprints divided by 5-minute breaks, following the pomodoro technique (PDF). After the writing session, you are welcome to stay to discuss writing goals, challenges and strategies with your colleagues.

Faculty Writing Café: Wednesdays from 2pm to 4pm in SCH 228F
Faculty Writing Discussion: Wednesdays from 4pm to 4:30pm in SCH 228F

How to participate

Please email Nadine Fladd to set up an individual meeting to discuss your project.

There’s no need to register if you’d like to join our weekly Faculty Writing Café. Just show up with your laptop and ready to write!