I am humbled, and more than a little nervous, to chart the future of St. Lawrence’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Assessment. By way of introducing myself, I want to share a few principles that I hold.
- Liberal education matters a great deal, and it can change lives
- Teaching is deeply personal and there are many ways to teach effectively and well
- Good teaching is grounded in passion for our subject areas
- No matter where we are in our career, we can always get better at teaching
Given these principles, I see my job as supporting you, where you are. I am here to listen and learn about your goals and struggles, and I want to share a variety of personalized strategies that may work for your teaching practice.
As well, I want to empower all of us to share what we know and value about teaching, both on campus and beyond. To this end, I am starting a small grant program that I will say more about in the coming weeks. I am hopeful that you will want to write for this blog, or that you will be willing to share your ideas and questions to inspire and engage our community.
There is no such thing as the perfect teacher or the best teaching strategy. That is the frustration and the invitation. Though we might like to think we will find that one thing that will ensure our success and our students’ learning and engagement so we can just keeping doing that thing, we change, our students change, the world changes. People who aspire to become good teachers learn to enjoy changing and learning, and I hope you see the CITA as a valued partner in your teaching journey.
