A single week could make all the difference in your teaching skills thanks to the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) offered by UFV’s Teaching and Learning department.

Participants come from a variety of fields (including UFV faculty, staff, and members of the local community) to spend four days learning how to build and then conduct engaging and effective lessons in 10 minutes or less. The topics can be anything you like; past subjects include drywall repair, bracelet making, furoshiki, Afro beats, and even charcuterie.

“I’m always struck by the variety,” says Claire Hay, an ISW facilitator with Teaching and Learning. “So rarely do I get duplicates even in all the many lessons that I’ve seen – they’re all unique. And, of course, the way somebody teaches them is unique as well. I think that’s also really, really cool.”

As fellow ISW facilitator Courtney Boisvert points out, “The feedback is on the process, not the content. If you want to teach me how to tie my shoes, that’s fine. We already know how to tie our shoes, but teach us that in an interesting way.”

The ISW is peer-based, so the feedback participants receive is from their fellow classmates. Evaluation is largely discussion-based, with the opportunity to hear responses to your work in multiple different formats.

The most impactful part of the workshop isn’t just in the learning, Hay explains.

“It’s the relationship building that takes place, and the community that you can develop in a short period of time that is incredibly valuable, even when you bring together a group of people from both inside and outside the institution,” she says.

Instructors of any kind can look forward to an incredible opportunity for development within a short period of time, at no cost for UFV employees.

“The growth that participants can experience in four days is really amazing. That, for me, is the power of the program,” Hay observes. “A lot of expectation is placed on the participants, but there’s also so much that they get out of it, and I think that’s the beauty of the whole thing. They don’t think they can; they try, and they accomplish something that leads to lots of other opportunities for them. And I think that piece is really the key.”

Click here to learn more about the ISW and other Teaching and Learning Centre workshops, or email tlcevents@ufv.ca.