During the week of March 20th, the Teaching and Learning Center will host two events. On March 22nd over Zoom we’ll host a workshop on “Grading Politics, Good-faith Pedagogy, and Adjunct Labor.” On March 23rd we’ll host an in-person discussion of “Teaching as a BIPOC Graduate Student.”

More details are below.

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TLC Workshop: Grading Politics, Good-faith Pedagogy, and Adjunct Labor

March 22nd, 12:00-1:30pm, on Zoom
Registration: http://cuny.is/tlc-spring-23
Hosted by Molly Bauer and Kristi Riley

Grading is time consuming. For adjuncts in particular, grading often requires an additional investment of uncompensated labor to complete. This scarcity can cause instructors to turn to grading processes that promise efficiency, but may also promote surveillance, punishment, and competition in the classroom. By thinking about grading as a political process, adjuncts can consciously resist these punitive structures. Approaching teaching with a sense of good faith can unlock strategies for creating both generative learning environments and communities of solidarity with students and fellow instructors.

The idea of good-faith pedagogy asserts that both instructors and students enter the classroom with the potential to learn with and from each other. This orientation calls for granting students agency in their learning process, which deepens students’ engagement. By treating the process of grading as a collaborative relationship with students, good-faith pedagogy cultivates the generative potential of evaluation and feedback by building solidarity through transparency and collaboration.

In this workshop, we will discuss the tensions between the ideals of a collaborative learning environment and the reality of adjunct labor. Together we will explore how reconsidering the function of grading and restructuring assessment provides opportunities to affirm students’ interests, development, and academic skills. This workshop will provide participants with reflections, guidelines, and tools to make feedback a dialogue rather than unidirectional conversation.

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TLC Talk: Teaching as a BIPOC Graduate Student

March 23rd, 12:00-1:30pm, Room 8400
Registration: http://cuny.is/tlc-spring-23
Hosted by Cristine Khan and Chandni Tariq

Teaching as a BIPOC graduate student has its own challenges. From being severely underrepresented in the academy to taking on heavier workloads, our experiences are distinct from and often more challenging than our white peers. This “TLC Talk” will hold space for us to reflect on what it means to be a BIPOC graduate student instructor at CUNY in hopes of validating those experiences and establishing better structures of support and mentorship. We will also take time to share and celebrate our victories in our developing teaching and academic careers. This space is open only to students who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color. Lunch will be served.