{"id":47337,"date":"2017-10-18T11:03:24","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T15:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=47337"},"modified":"2017-10-18T13:12:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T17:12:13","slug":"nominations-open-for-brocks-excellence-in-teaching-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/10\/nominations-open-for-brocks-excellence-in-teaching-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Nominations open for Brock\u2019s excellence in teaching awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paula Gardner has a steady and measured approach to her university teaching career that began at Brock five years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching is a practice so we need to dedicate time and attention to it, but we also need to be patient with ourselves says the assistant professor of Public Health and the 2014 recipient of the <\/span>Brock University Award for Excellence in Teaching for Early Career Faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gardner\u2019s best advice to colleagues, particularly new teachers, is to \u201cflourish at a reasonable pace.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my personal and professional mantra. Don\u2019t expect, or try, to do it all, to learn it all, to teach it all and to be all,\u201d she says. \u201cStart small, start on easy bits, start with one thing and then build from there. Learn by doing \u2014 just try stuff, experiment and have fun. And know that it\u2019s OK if you fail here and there \u2014 that\u2019s part of the learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brock faculty have until Wednesday, Nov. 8 to submit nominations for the 2017 Award for Excellence in Teaching for Early Career Faculty Award, the <\/span>Clarke Thomson Award for Excellence in Sessional Teaching and the Don Ursino Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Large Classes. <\/span>Nomination packages must be submitted to the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation (CPI) in hard copy or electronically to<\/span> cpi@brocku.ca<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Award recipients receive a framed certificate and a teaching and learning grant. The winners will be publicly recognized at CPI\u2019s annual 2017 Tribute to Teaching reception to be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6.<\/span><\/p>\n

CPI Director Jill Grose says the awards demonstrate the value that Brock places on a broad scope of contributions to teaching and learning. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe awards help us to distinguish teaching excellence at all stages and in all its forms,\u201d she says. \u201cThe early career award celebrates outstanding educators who are making a significant contribution to the teaching culture even while attempting to establish their research program. Teaching large classes takes a special skillset. And our sessional teachers are often an invisible part of the teaching family yet they make important contributions to innovative and inventive teaching practices. Overall, the awards celebrate the high calibre of Brock teaching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nominees are required to submit a 20-page dossier that provides an overview of their teaching background and philosophy along with support statements from colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing the dossier may sound daunting. However, Gardner valued the opportunity to reflect on her teaching, describing the process with a quote from <\/span>Paul Cezanne, a <\/span>French artist and Post-Impressionist painter: <\/span>\u201cTime and reflection change the sight little by little till we come to understand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe process of self-reflection \u2014 a necessary activity for preparing a teaching dossier \u2014 was incredibly insightful,\u201d she adds. \u201cApplying for this award meant granting myself permission to take the time to be reflexive and to do so mindfully, intentionally and without judgement. Great learning came from both the process as well as the product. \u00a0These learnings have been foundational in my teaching practice since then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gardner, who also holds a 2016 Brock Chancellor\u2019s Chair for Teaching Excellence, adds that awards reinforce the University\u2019s commitment to excellence in teaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe award and recognition send a message that teaching at Brock is important. It\u2019s a motivator. It encourages us as educators to continue to walk the talk as lifelong learners and to keep trying and working at improving our teaching skills and knowledge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More information on the <\/span>Brock University Award for Excellence in Teaching for Early Career Faculty<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Clarke Thomson Award for Excellence in Sessional Teaching<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Don Ursino Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Large Classes<\/span><\/a> awards is available on the CPI website.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paula Gardner has a steady and measured approach to her university teaching career that began at Brock five years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":47341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,7,1,4],"tags":[4730,714,4731,5856,5230,4206],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47344,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47337\/revisions\/47344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}