Rethinking Teaching Expertise: Toward a More Wholistic Framework for Conceptualizing, Assessing and Developing Teaching Expertise in Higher Education

What does it actually mean to develop and demonstrate teaching expertise? This 90-minute interactive session explores the Developmental Framework for Teaching Expertise in Postsecondary Education (Kenny et al., 2017), a model that reframes developing teaching expertise as multi-faceted, career-long, and relational journey. The framework is grounded in three foundational habits of mind that shape five interwoven and non-hierarchical facets of practice: teaching and supporting learning, professional learning and development, mentorship, research/scholarship/inquiry, and educational leadership. Within each facet, a developmental continuum illustrates how growth moves from developing oneself in a local context toward contributing to the growth of others and the broader teaching and learning community. Deliberately "written in pencil," the framework was designed from the outset to be shared, adapted, and reshaped to fit local institutional contexts. 

During this 90-minute interactive session participants will:

• Explore the structure and value of the framework within the context of their roles.
• Consider adaptations and applications to the framework and how components of the framework could be applied across multiple organizational levels (e.g., individual courses/educators, across departments, at the institutional level)
• Leave with a call to action on how you might use, adapt, or advocate for a more holistic conceptualization of teaching expertise in your own department, unit, or role at UPEI.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. No prior familiarity with the framework is required. Bring your curiosity and a willingness to reflect on your own teaching and learning journey, however you currently define it!