By Krista Burke, OSU College of Business
“Searching for a supportive community of faculty?”
There’s a chance I stopped reading there and decided to apply. At some point I read the complete description of the Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community call for participation, but I can’t say it was prior to my decision to apply. After being accepted, I dug deeper into the topic to learn more about what I had just signed up for during fall term. I was excited to learn more about new ways to energize my teaching and engage my audience, but it was the emphasis on community that immediately caught my attention and, what I quickly realized, something I desperately needed to feel resilient.
I remember listening to a podcast years ago about the medical industry and the challenges posed due to the nature of errors in the field. Oftentimes, when errors are made, owning up to them can mean job-ending lawsuits so many professionals will keep quiet about the mistakes they’ve made – making it difficult to grow from others’ mistakes. Of course, the mistakes are usually much lower here as professional faculty at OSU but there is a vulnerability in sharing your failures, questions and challenges with others that makes it a daunting task. Furthermore, our teaching schedules and disciplines can be so dramatically different, it can be hard to feel like we have that community of support around us.
The mere existence of this Center for Teaching and Learning community opened the door to a space I didn’t know I needed so badly–a space to meet other faculty who care enough about teaching well to admit they want to learn more, to try new things, and to seek this community dedicated to exploring solutions to teaching challenges. However, once I felt the relief of these connections, it was so much easier to realize that I do have this community outside of this CTL group, but I needed the reminder to prioritize those connections.
I was reminded that this vulnerability–admitting fault, facing challenges, and seeking support–is indeed a strength that requires courage and self-compassion (Krause, 2020). The first of five practices in Krause’s article on vulnerability in teaching was to “Get Grounded.” While the author describes physical exercises for this, she also makes mention of phrases like “connected groundedness” and “rooted connection,” “feel[ing] support in our core and our roots.” Each of these requires a community, others, a form of support. To carry on with the metaphor, I did a quick search to see if trees (my go-to vision when I think of “roots” and “groundedness”) do better in community. Sure enough, “a group planting allows each tree to thrive and share the available resources” (Coder, 1997).
So, while I have already learned about so many tools and strategies to enhance my teaching, the most valuable reminder I’ve received (and hope to share here) is to find a community – a supportive group you can feel vulnerable with and supported by so we can all continue to thrive together.
References
Krause, Caitlin. (2020). Vulnerability Can Be a Strength for Educators. Let’s Embrace It. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-07-21-vulnerability-can-be-a-strength-for-educators-let-s-embrace-it
Coder, Kim. (1997). Don’t Make Landscape Trees Go It Alone. CAES Newsletter, University of Georgia. https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story/325/plant-trees-in-groups.html
About the author: Krista Burke is an Instructor and Program Manager in the College of Business on the Student Engagement Team. She teaches courses in the Blueprint series on topics such as Personal Finance and Crucial Conversations to second year Business students.
Editor’s note: This is part of a series of guest posts about resilience and teaching strategies by members of the Fall ’24 Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community facilitated by CTL. The opinions expressed in guest posts are solely those of the authors.
Top image generated with Microsoft Copilot
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