Building resilience in CTLs: Reflections on practice

Abstract

What are the qualities of the “now” that make teaching and learning an urgent, if not a moral imperative? A group of faculty, administrators, and educational developers respond to this question with individual narratives bound together by a common theme of reflective practice in times of crises to help faculty become more resilient in preparing for ongoing upheavals, unexpected crises, and the tide of humanity pursuing more inclusive communities. Our personal narratives reflect on the subjects of flexibility in the face of crises, technology and ethics, study abroad exposure to ethical challenges, students’ growing anxiety and mental health, modeling metacognition with peers and students, and considerations of pedagogy in uncertain times. Our individual stories of practice will be helpful to teaching and learning center colleagues who work with faculty and to faculty themselves as we operate in times of crises.

Coda: A wicked problems mindset for educational development

“…It is not, of course, on the shoulders of educational developers alone to effect this transformation. Yet, educational developers have never been positioned better to shape institutional responses (acknowledging how stretched and burned-out many are feeling at the moment) (Chen et al, 2022;Hatfield et al, 2022). Let me turn briefly then to how each of these three stances might translate into the wicked problems…”

“…This opportunity depends on recognizing the relative "locus of influence" that each educational developer has. The articles in this volume make this clear by offering a spectrum of responses to a wicked problems mindset, from leveraging the "contexts of agency" related to professional "identity, institution, and impact" (Landy et al, 2022) to the ethos ("wicked consciousness") that educational developers bring to new collaborations and partnerships (Smith et al, 2022; see also Chen et al, 2022;Dietz et al, 2022;Hatfield et al, 2022;McCreary, 2022;Wise et al, 2022).…”