Building a Community of Practice of Socially Just Educators in Higher Education

You are invited to attend a Professional Development workshop for Education Futures sessional teaching staff. Facilitated by Dr Sarah Hattam & Tanya Weiler who are recipients of an Australian Award for University Teaching 2019 and Educator Innovation Award 2020 for their suite of professional development initiatives. Their experience of teaching non-traditional students over the last decade has provided opportunities to examine and reassess traditional HE pedagogy, that at times functions to exclude diverse learners and leads to disengagement from the university (Burke & Crozier 2013). Hattam & Weiler’s research into the experiences of sessional staff at UniSA revealed the necessity to provide continual professional development opportunities that not only support the enhancement of teaching practice, but also encourages staff to examine their pedagogy within the HE context (Hattam & Weiler 2020).

In this workshop, they will show how the development and enactment of a ‘critical enabling’ HE pedagogy at UniSA College has led to the highest student satisfaction scores of College teaching staff comparatively with the rest of the university. For sessional staff who are seeking increased connection with other educators, Hattam & Weiler will also launch the Education Futures Teaching Squares 2021 Program that provides opportunities to engage in peer-to-peer development. As the student cohort in Bachelor level study becomes increasingly diverse, adopting ‘critical enabling’ pedagogical approaches in undergraduate teaching not only supports a social justice agenda for widening participation, but also improves overall student engagement, retention and satisfaction with teaching.

Is this workshop, we consider the following questions as they connect with ‘critical enabling’ pedagogy:

What opportunities are there for you and your colleagues to practice reflexivity in your teaching approaches?

Many students who are described as ‘non-traditional’ university students, have had poor learning experiences prior to coming to university; they often have fragile learner identities. How might you take account of this? It is important not to stigmatise such students: how might you avoid this?

How might universities nurture spaces and feelings of belonging and capability for their students?

Does social class matter in Higher Education?

(Questions adapted from Burke & Crozier 2013; Thredgold, Burke & Munn 2018)

Zoom option available for regional staff

https://unisa.zoom.us/j/86133896613?pwd=czBvQWFRNVgwSzZNcGEvMDZucnptUT09

Password: 770826

Preparation: Please familiarise yourself with these two reports by Burke & Crozier 2013; Thredgold, Burke & Munn 2018 .

Location: Room DP2-44 (STEM lab), UniSA College, City West Campus

Time: 2-5pm

* Coffee/tea and light refreshments available

All efforts will be made to ensure a COVID safe event, with social distancing and encouragement of all participants to follow the guidelines set out by UniSA regarding not attending if you feel unwell and practicing good hygiene.