1. THE MISSING LINK
Librarians and the Teaching Identity
Sarah Faye Cohen
Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont

2. • Why focus on developing
Session
Goals the teaching identity?
What are we here to talk
about today? • How can we cultivate the
teaching identity?
• What are obstacles to
cultivating the teaching
identity, said and unsaid?
• What are the results of this
work?

3. Why focus on developing
the teaching identity?
In two parts.

4. 1. Professionally and logistically
• Combats burnout and
isolation.
• Improves effectiveness
in the classroom.
• Facilitates
collaboration and
“groupthink” for more
diversity of ideas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catheroo/1474795920

5. But
what
is
“teaching
identity”?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewleavy/753717493

6. “We rarely talk with each other about
teaching at any depth—and why should we
when we have nothing more than ‘tips,
tricks, and techniques’ to discuss? That kind
of talk fails to touch the heart of the teacher’s
experience.”
(The Courage to Teach, 13)

7. “the heart of the teacher’s experience”
• What does it mean to
be teaching librarian?
• What does it mean to
be a teacher?
• Are you a teacher?
• What does that look
like, sound like, feel
like, taste like?

8. Getting things out in the open.

9. Exposing the truth behind our
challenges
http://collegeteachingtips.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/01/PonderingInstructor.jpg

10. Is it something else? A crisis.
• Fear
• A fear of obsolescence
• A fear of not knowing
• A fear vulnerability
• A fear of judgment
• Lack
• A lack of confidence
• A lack of voice
• A lack of agency
• A lack of faith in http://www.flickr.com/photos/vblibrary/4993073773/
ourselves as teachers

11. A clean start to a difficult topic.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phipag/6839447970

12. At the elemental level.
“Look within. Within is the
fountain of good, and it will
ever bubble up, if you
keep digging.”
(Marcus Aurelius)
• To understand our
students, our
objectives, our
pedagogy, and our
teaching, we need to
understand ourselves.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrrodrigo/5998696169

13. HOW DO WE DO THAT?

14. Define your community
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dimitryb/2268492152

15. Standing Meetings
• Specific time for the
people who teach to
address teaching
• Time to acknowledge,
vent, experiment,
design, share
• Expression of value
and importance

16. Group Readings
• Why?
• The group that reads
together, stays together.
• An environment that is
informal, relaxed, and
supportive.
• How
• A book of one’s own
• Various formats
• Using meeting time to read
• Focused.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benobryan/3386185638

17. What to read:
• Pieces that address our
challenges, not reinforce
our expertise.
• Exploring yourself as a
teacher: The Courage to
Teach
• Who are today’s students?
Born Digital
• Helping students to “get it”
Made to Stick
• Unplugging: Hamlet’s
Blackberry http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna/199723292

18. Developing a Teaching Philosophy
• Motivation.
• What is your “modus
operandi” for being in the
classroom?
• Vision for the
classroom and
teaching experience.
• A focus on you, not the
students.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apc33/2445600596/

19. Debrief sessions
• Designing sessions are
a process, not a product.
• Before
• What is our “CI” and our
“takeaway”?
• What learning styles are
we addressing?
• What problems can we
anticipate?
• After
• What worked? What
didn’t?
• What will I do differently?
• What will I do again?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnji/6907148829

20. Peer to Peer Observations
• An opportunity to learn
about the physical
• Non-verbal
communication
• Intonation
• Back of the room view
of students
• What will I try from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulfbodin/4404742562
their way of teaching?

21. What observations are not.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/estherase/976581518

22. My own learning experience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30571787@N00/307814064/

23. The tenor of the conversation
• Listening
• Safe spaces: a
judgment free zone
• Welcome challenges
and failures
• Marinating
• Conflict as a need
expressed in another
direction
http://www.flickr.com/photos/riz94107/3357665840

24. USING INQUIRY TO
BUILD THAT TONE AND
SPACE

25. Give voice
• Nostalgia
• Animosity
• Hard conversations
• Open-ended
questions
• “Not our problem to
solve.”
• Uncertainty

26. Embedding reflection

27. WHAT ARE OBSTACLES
TO CULTIVATING THE
TEACHING IDENTITY,
EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT?

28. Common Obstacles
• Time
• “I’m fine in the
classroom.”
• “I don’t need help.”
• “I have nothing to learn
from them.”
• Not supported
• Not important to my
evaluations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilspicys/2349798104

29. Fear of the unknown and
unchartered
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pelcinary/4958173169

30. IS IT WORTH IT?

31. Yes. And we will do it together.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pelcinary/4958754738/

32. What do we get out of this work?
• Teams
• Authentic support
• Collaboration
• Creativity
• Trust
• Confidence
• Better teachers
• Fun
http://www.flickr.com/photos/notsogoodphotography/3434414425

33. How do you know?
• Word of mouth
• Statistics speak
• Reference
• Distributive leadership
• Stronger sense of
teaching community

34. HOW CAN YOU BEGIN?

35. Start here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmada/5416602201

36. Share your experience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruminatrix/3755296805

37. Invite others
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mintlipgloss/251326649

38. Persist
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindwhisperings/4783343871

39. “We cannot know the great
things of the universe until we
know ourselves to be great
things.”
(The Courage to Teach, 113)

40. THANK YOU.
Always happy to talk further.
thesheckspot@gmail.com
@thesheck

41. I’D LOVE YOUR HELP.
• What do you consider to be the obstacles to
teaching identity work?
• What kinds of research would help shed light
on this issue?
• What would support for teaching identity work
look like at UK libraries?
• How can we demystify this work and how can
we help it gain traction in the academy?