Future Prof Workshop: Students As Partners

What does it mean to co-create learning spaces in higher education classrooms? Grounded in the Students as Partners (SaP) model, participants will reflect on the possibilities that exist in creating classroom spaces that encourage shared learning, dialogue, and collaboration.

Teaching Assistants (TAs) play an important role in shaping students’ day-to-day learning experiences. This session introduces the SaP approach and invites TAs to consider what partnership can look like in their own teaching contexts. Together, we will explore ways to create opportunities for students to contribute to, shape, and take greater ownership of their learning. The SaP model is presented from three prisms: in the classroom, as a translatable skill, and in the community. Through reflective exercises and case studies, we will consider how partnership can inform learning activities and discussions suitable for tutorials and labs. We will also explore the potential challenges or limitations of the model and how to mitigate them. These perspectives are especially important for TAs, who have frequent, direct interactions with students and can use these moments to foster more equitable and impactful learning environments. We will then reflect on the skills developed in using the SaP model that are translatable to other teaching contexts. The goal is to help TAs recognize the possibilities of developing a partnership-oriented mindset that can be applied to current tutorials or labs, as well as future teaching encounters.

Current graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are welcome to register on Western Connect. This workshop will be offered online. Learn more about the Future Prof Series here.