Building a sense of community amongst GTAs
Dr Matteo Di Benedetti, Senior University Teacher, MEE
Gemma Gibson, GTA Coordinator, MEE
Sarah Plumb, Academic Development Adviser, Elevate
In this session we will:
Is there a sense of community amongst GTAs in your department?
How has this been achieved or what is missing?
Benefits of a strong GTA community
GTA Community
Introductory Event
'Coffee Break' Events
Awards Night
Uniform
GTA at the Diamond
GTA Training - Continuous
Repetitions of activity specific training
GTA Training - Individual
Led by academic�Contextualised pedagogical concepts�Activity-specific training
GTA Training - Peer Teaching
Led by academic�Contextualised pedagogical concepts�Activity-specific training
Led by trained GTA
Lead GTA: “Rehearsal” stage
GTAs: Activity-specific training
GTA Training
Teaching ownership
Improved peer support
GTA Community
Group Task: Discuss your given area in relation to GTAs
Management, Training and Induction
Training and Support
Recognition and Career Development
Networks
The GTA Developers' Network was created in 2022 to establish and review of a university-wide framework for the professional development and recognition of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in teaching and learning. This framework will support GTAs in getting opportunities to teach and develop their pedagogic skills in their subject area and receive recognition which will benefit students and support their future teaching careers. It will also support the development of transferable skills gained through teaching which can be applicable to careers outside academia as well.
The Network has members from 20 different departments and we are always actively recruiting new members. If you are interested in joining us please contact elevate@sheffield.ac.uk.
The Advance HE DTA Developers’ Network provides a space for anyone in Higher Education who supports postgraduate research students / GTAs with their teaching to network, share practice and develop ideas which will ultimately enhance the teaching practice of PGRs/ GTAs.
The network also hosts events where speakers are invited from different HE Institutions to talk about their work with GTAs and to share best practice.
Sign up to the Advance HE network to go to (or present at) the GTA Conference at the University of Manchester on 21st June 2023. Free admission.
Suggested Resources
Di Benedetti, M., Plumb, S., & Beck, S. B. (2023). Effective use of peer teaching and self-reflection for the pedagogical training of graduate teaching assistants in engineering. European Journal of Engineering Education, 48(1), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2022.2054313
Kinsella, R. et al. (2022) ‘GTA teaching practice development in the time of Covid-19: A collective reflective on how "having the chats" led to much more’, Postgraduate Pedagogies, 2(1). Available at https://www.journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/gtateach/article/view/1148 (Accessed: 28/03/23)
Joyce, A. and Hassenfeldt, T.A. (2020) ‘Utility of a Peer Teaching Mentor to Graduate Teaching Assistants’, College teaching, 68(1), pp. 12–19. doi:10.1080/87567555.2019.1689906.
Carmi, T., Guberman, A. and Cohen Brandeis, R. (2022) ‘PLC tools: promoting learning about learning in a teachers' professional community’, Professional development in education, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–16. doi:10.1080/19415257.2022.2077409.
Toom, A. et al. (2017) ‘How does the learning environment in teacher education cultivate first year student teachers' sense of professional agency in the professional community?’, Teaching and teacher education, 63, pp. 126–136. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.013.