Exploring how we teach:
Lived experiences, lessons, and research about graduate instructors by graduate instructors
Edited by Sam Clem
As the second book in the Empower Teaching Open Access Book Series, Exploring how we teach seeks to create a knowledge-sharing resource that validates and amplifies the experiences and voices of graduate student instructors. The collection encompasses the many titles, responsibilities, and levels of autonomy that graduate student instructors hold. The authors, all graduate students at the time of writing, interrogate issues of identity, community, and vulnerability within the context of college teaching, all while providing the reader with concrete takeaways to apply in the classroom. We hope that this collection can support the professional development of graduate students across disciplines, institutions, and levels of teaching experience.
Table of Contents
Land Acknowledgement | Contributors
Introduction: Strengthening Graduate Student Teaching Through Community-Based Knowledge Sharing
Sam Clem
Chapter 1: A Love Letter to My Little Girl
Melissa Leaym-Fernandez
Chapter 2: Classrooms and Minefields
Jonathan Simmons, Sandra Silva, and Shannon Kelley
Chapter 3: Using a Minoritized Graduate Instructor Identity to Cultivate an Inclusive and Diverse Learning Space
Faqryza Ab Latif
Chapter 4: Transferring Knowledge and Opening Pathways: The Unconventional Doctoral Student-Adjunct Instructor
Samantha Prado
Chapter 5: Navigating the Multiple Roles of Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants in Pursuit of Racial Equity, Access, and Justice
Kristyn Lue
Chapter 6: Teaching for Black Girls: What every graduate student instructor can learn from Black Girlhood Studies
Theresa Hice-Fromille
Chapter 7: Validating Students’ Diverse Identities
Erin Hughes
Chapter 8: How Can Graduate Instructors Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in their Courses?
Taneisha Vilma and Natalie Low
Chapter 9: Nothing About Us Without Us: Practical Strategies for Accessible Pedagogy
Jennie Baker and Heath J. Wooten
Chapter 10: Teacher as Student: Matters of Exploration and Radical Vulnerability in the Classroom
Elizabeth Giardina
Chapter 11: Teaching to Fail: Creating Vulnerable Learning Communities to Facilitate Students' Growth
Avaneesh Narla
Chapter 12: Navigating Evidence and Knowledge Equity
J. Nick Fisk
Chapter 13: Practicing and Researching Pedagogical Metacognition: Benefits for Graduate Instructors During the First Year of Instruction
Audrey Tocco
Chapter 14: Community-Engaged Teaching: Opportunities and Challenges for Graduate Instructors
Stacy Bluth
Chapter 15: Graduate Teaching Communities of Practice: Fostering a Sense of Belonging and Professional Development for Graduate Students, by Graduate Students
April Athnos, Tianyi Kou-Herrema, Matthew Langley, Emile Oshima, Harrison Parker, Hima Rawal, Olivia Wilkins, Alexandra Lee, Seth Hunt, Ellen Searle, and Nathalie Marinho
Chapter 16: Don’t Forget to Breathe: Advice for Coping with Graduate Teaching Anxiety
Ryan Cheek
While being a graduate instructor who exists within a liminal state comes with its own set of challenges, it also comes with unique characteristics that allow for meaningful engagement with ourselves, our students, and the entrenched institutional practices.
Book Details
Recommended APA Citation
Clem, S. (Ed.) (2022). Exploring how we teach: Lived experiences, lessons, and research about graduate instructors by graduate instructors. Utah State University.
If, as I assert, teaching for Black girls necessitates that educators engage their students as co-creators, co-witnesses, and co-conspirators, then a radical re-articulation of learning through the interrogation of educational norms and standards must also ensue.
Emphasizing the relationship between the educator and the student as fellow learners lets us recognize that both are resilient and can grow from failure.
About Empower Teaching Open-Access Series
The Empower Teaching Open-Access Book Series features a variety of peer-reviewed books focused broadly on the multi-disciplinary work of teaching in higher education. Books in the series align with the mission of the Center for Empowering Teaching Excellence (ETE) to bolster the culture of teaching excellence for students, staff, faculty and administrators. The books in this series share insightful and innovative perspectives on teaching and learning, and through a partnership with USU Libraries the books are offered in an online and open-access format to amplify the voices of authors and contributors in the series.