What advice would you give to junior faculty members?

Melissa Holmes
Talk to your colleagues – a lot of them – within and across disciplines. The experience, enthusiasm, creativity, etc, regarding teaching is vast on this campus so capitalize on this resource. Also, be genuine when teaching. Show your passion for your area of expertise, explain why you love it, and acknowledge your biases. This is key for engaging students on multiple levels. Finally, recognize you will never capture everyone in a class. But there are always students in the room who really want to learn from you. Focusing on this incredible opportunity to share your knowledge and spark interest makes teaching fun and rewarding.

- Melissa Holmes, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

 

Sanja

Attend a workshop! There are many different types of professional and teaching workshops offered throughout the year at different venues across the University of Toronto. There will be many tips and strategies you will learn about at these workshops and you will be able to identify those which work best for you in order to organize and prepare yourself for each stage of your career. Another great aspect of all the workshops is that you also have an opportunity to make meaningful career or personal connections with faculty across the university and in disciplines other than your own.

-Sanja Hinić-Frlog Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Biology

 

Chester Scoville

Get to know lots of people, including other junior faculty outside your discipline. You’ll probably have more in common with them than you might think!

-Chester Scoville, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of English & Drama

 

 

 

 

Sophia Bello
Be open-minded and ready to LEARN from your students. They are the ones who will help your pedagogical development and help you better yourself as a professor, a teacher and as a researcher. 

-Sophia Bello, Sessional Lecturer, Department of Language Studies