What do you do when the values that guide your teaching feel out of step with the institution you work in? What if the issue isn’t burnout — but the system itself?
This interactive, reflective workshop invites educators to explore the internal and external landscapes that shape our pedagogy and professional identity.
Drawing on the work of Maxine Greene and Parker J. Palmer, we’ll consider how elements of higher education culture — often operating beneath the surface — influence how we show up in the classroom and how we understand ourselves as educators.
Participants will be introduced to the “performance model” of academia (Tompkins, 1990), a system that privileges external validation and rewards competition. Many of us absorb this model without even realizing it, feeling pressure to perform, prove ourselves, and prioritize hierarchy over humanity.
Through guided conversations, personal reflection, and a brief introduction to narrative inquiry, we’ll begin naming the quiet (and not-so-quiet) forces that shape our academic environments. Together, we’ll explore how to reclaim and re-story spaces in higher education for authenticity, autonomy, and a pedagogy that better reflects who we are — and not just how well we perform.
Session duration: 1 hour
Please click on the facilitator’s name in the session info to view their bio.
This session will not be recorded.
