What an opportunity to get to know one of my Continuing Studie(CS) colleagues more closely! After all, we usually pass like ships in the night and know very little about each other!
When we discussed the observation, I asked my colleague how he felt about being observed; what his preconceived ideas were; if he planned to participate in the blogging; and if he had any recommendations.
Feelings: being a seasoned instructor he felt quite comfortable about having a visitor and treated me like one of his students. He had a little difficulty explaining why I was there (which made me realise the importance of preparing a little cheat sheet; or he could have asked me to introduce myself!) And he appreciated my input in the class (although I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible). For example, I was able to tell his students that one's personality traits change with age and one becomes assertive!
Preconceived ideas: that I would experience his class and we would dicuss any major differences and worthwhile tips (and this we did).
Blogging: he asked me to make this first entry but he plans to participate in the future - especially when he has observed my class.
Recommendations:
1) he agrees that the continuing studies instructors would benefit from taking an instructional skills course or series of workshops. According to him there are 3 categories of CS instructors: new, inexperienced instructors with little or no teacher training but experts in their content areas; those with years of experience but no formal training; and those who have high levels of education and years of experience but are in need of professional development to stay in tune with the latest developments in their content area and technology. He felt that ILLT should be providing some training for each level.
2) He feels that CS instructors should make a greater effort to attend such activities as the instructor retreat in Vernon, the networking/appreciation evenings and Next Step presented by Jim Hamilton.
3) He recommends that the promotional efforts of CS be less conventional and be more community or business based.
My own thoughts on point #1 - when I was teaching for BCIT (project management course) it was mandatory to take a weekend instructional skills workshop. I have to admit that I questioned the need, especially with a Masters in Education. However, I learned so much that weekend! We were each videotaped and we critiqued ourselves and our peers. This is where I learned the importance or writing clear learning outcomes and I have never forgotten that.
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