Mentorship has been documented as an effective approach to professional development in many disciplines (De Janasz & Sullivan, 2004). A growing body of evidence informs several different types of peer mentorship initiatives in higher education, including those that focus on professional development, progression to disciplinary maturity, and teaching development (Huston & Weaver, 2008). However, the success of peer mentorship initiatives appears to be partly dependent on how well they take contextual demands into consideration (Bernstein, Jonson, & Smith, 2000).
The University of Calgary has recently implemented an institution-wide teaching awards program, which has generated a cohort of award winners who are both interested in and committed to contributing to peer support of teaching development on campus. In the effort to decide how the group would do this in a meaningful and sustainable way, the Educational Development Unit has facilitated a slow process of exploration and iterative decision making in order to establish a unique, evidence-based, context-driven peer support initiative for teaching development.
After engaging with this poster presentation, participants should be able to: (a) conceptualize the process of slow facilitation, (b) imagine how slow facilitation for the purpose of developing a peer mentorship initiative would look at their home institution, and (c) develop one idea for starting a slow facilitation process. The presenter will provide an overview and artefacts of the slow facilitation process, and participate in interactive discussions about how such a process could be implemented at participants’ home institutions.
Bernstein, D. J., Jonson, J., & Smith, K. (2000). An examination of the implementation of peer review of teaching. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 83, 73-86. doi: 10.1002/tl.8306
De Janasz, S. C., & Sullivan, S. E. (2004). Multiple mentoring in academe: Developing the professorial network. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64, 263-283. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2002.07.001
Huston, T., & Weaver, C. L. (2008). Peer coaching: Professional development for experienced faculty. Innovation in Higher Education, 33(5), 5-20. doi: 10.1007/s10755-007-9061-9
