Academic Identity & Professional Learning:
Unlearning traditional methods
Communities of practice
Staff development in higher education
Building reflective teaching practice
Recently, I had the opportunity to co-convene the Higher Education Practice & Learning Symposium. Our keynote speaker, Bruce Mackh, shared a deceptively simple reminder that resonated throughout the day: “we are all leaders.” That statement has stuck with me not because it was provocative, but because it expressed something many of us feel but seldom…
Assessment in higher education is often treated as a technical skill. Something we learn by following templates, applying rubrics, and adhering to policies. However, beneath these processes lies something far more influential: our Teacher Assessment Identity, or TAI. This identity shapes how we interpret student work, design assessments, give feedback, and position ourselves in relation…
“Universities are overflowing with experts in knowledge — but too few scholars of how knowledge is learned.” In most universities, research is the key to success. Promotion policies, institutional rankings, and professional recognition all rely on metrics that reward discovery and publication. Journal articles serve as symbols of impact and credibility. None of this is…
In my previous post, I explored the distinction between assessment and assessing. Assessment is usually the fixed product, a grade, a test, an assignment. While assessing is the ongoing process of feedback, dialogue, and growth. I also raised the possibility that we might need different language altogether, such as narrative evaluation, to better describe this developmental process. But this distinction leads to a…
Recently, I was listening to Hilltop Hoods’ new album Fall From Light. On the track Rage Against The Fatigue, there’s a deliberate three-second silence between the words “cliff” and “hangers.” The first time I heard it, I thought something was wrong. But it was intentional — and it made me think about silence in teaching.…