Teaching matters
Of course it does, right? No one would disagree. But what do universities and colleges actually do to demonstrate that it matters, to really make it a priority?
I have worked in teaching and learning centers for more than 20 years now. Recently it was announced that the teaching center at the University of Texas at Austin is closing. I had my first job there, during my Master’s program, and it’s what got me into the field and hooked on supporting graduate students and instructors in myriad ways. After UT I worked at the Program for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia, then moved to the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cornell University, and finally worked at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. Each of those centers has gone through major upheaval in recent years, but the closing of the UT center is the most drastic (closely matched, at least for me, by the restructuring of the Bok Center that launched me into this new chapter).
Mary Wright wrote a great opinion piece today about the value of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs). I think one of the biggest problems is that most people, even university leaders, don’t understand what CTLs do. I’ve spent my career trying to explain it! They don’t know that faculty and graduate students aren’t always experts on teaching. Isn’t the whole project of the university to be a teaching and learning center? But especially at major research universities, teaching is not always the top priority, and having specific resources dedicated to teaching and instructor learning is invaluable. Instructors need support with their courses, resources on how to help students learn, and how to communicate their research. During the pandemic, CTLs helped higher education survive, teaching everyone to teach on Zoom, and now CTLs are leading the charge on advising on generative AI. And most importantly to me, as Mary points out, the center is a community hub for scholars across disciplines, to connect over a shared interest in teaching. Faculty and instructors at all levels can join programs and find partners to help enhance their work. Everyone learns more, not just the undergraduate students.
These days it feels important to advocate for resources for teaching and learning, to provide space for scholars to learn and explore, to keep working on making higher education the space we want it to be. But it’s important, too, to remember that threats to teaching and learning centers are nothing new. It’s just that we need the resources even more now in the face of so many challenges.
Are you looking for teaching or communication resources, or a partner on a teaching or academic project? I am always here; don’t hesitate to reach out.
