We are not Alone: Introducing Betsy

On November 16, 2010, in Being a GA/TA, Research, UWindsor, by Betsy Keating

Betsy KeatingAs I headed off for my first year of university, my father took me aside and offered this piece of advice: “Don’t expect to come out of this experience with an education. There is no such thing,” he said. “If you do well at university, you’ll come out knowing how to educate yourself.” At seventeen, I took this to be a condemnation of the university system—an apparently flawed organization that, despite the high cost of tuition, could not do a proper job of giving me an education. Over the years, and thanks to a number of generous mentors, I’ve come to appreciate what my father was trying to say. Learning how to ask questions is more important than piling up answers. Learning to be resourceful is more important than appearing to be knowledgeable. I now think of higher education as a vast collection of resources, and most valuable among those resources are the people whose enthusiasm and willingness to share have created a place for learning.

Sharing resources has become a major part of what I do each day. In my new position as the GATA Network’s Coordinator, I hear quite a bit from GAs and TAs about their fears and concerns. Most of their stories resonate with me and with my colleagues. At one time, we’ve all been new to teaching, encountered unexpected situations in the classroom or lab, didn’t know who to ask, what to do…Luckily, none of us has to be isolated in teaching situations anymore. The internet helps, of course, but the greatest change is a growing appreciation for effective teaching within the Academy. In the past fifteen years or so, Canadian institutions have been increasing their support for learning about teaching. In fact, students are beginning to demand it! Check out this short article from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) published on November 11th: Students call for action on new research into teaching and learning.

Speaking of sharing resources, a friend at Brock sent me a link to this article on growing support for teaching skills, so I’ll pass it along to you as well: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/15/mit

I’m so looking forward to meeting more of the GAs and TAs here at the University of Windsor – Stay in touch!

 

Comments are closed.