I want to begin the newsletter this week with a version of what Stephen Brookfield (2019) has called an appreciative pause: Thank you to every single person who has stopped by my office to say hi or ask how I am doing as I have transitioned back to work from parental leave. You all have made this transition much easier, and I am so appreciative.
Speaking of Brookfield, I often cite his Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (2017) as one of the most influential books on my teaching. Brookfield identifies four lenses that we can use to gain new perspectives on our teaching: 1) our personal experience; 2) our students’ eyes; 3) our colleagues’ perspectives; and 4) educational theory and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL). While you can pursue these different perspectives on your own, I also hope that attending Faculty Hub events and programming helps you gain access to all of these lenses. Read on for some specific opportunities to get student perspectives on your teaching.