My beliefs on teaching and learning have evolved over my career as I regularly reflect on my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned. I began my formal teaching career in Rwanda and England, where I taught German to grades 6 through 12. Since starting graduate school, I have served as a Teaching Assistant and Sessional Instructor, and more recently have developed and led workshops to enhance the teaching of others. As of September 2020, I have been working as an Educational Developer with a variety of responsibilities. It is in this role that I believe I have found my true calling as a co-learner; passionate about the teaching and learning experience in Higher Education.

It is my belief that a key role of an educational developer is to be a connector between people and disciplines. Teaching and learning can be quite isolating at times, however, I believe that we learn best in partnership with others. For example, in my doctoral research project, I have connected five instructors from four different disciplines to design classroom interventions to enhance the uptake of feedback by their undergraduate students. I chose to create this focus group of instructors, rather than individual case studies because I believe in the power of the social construction of knowledge. From my analysis so far, it is clear that this method has had an impact on the way that instructors are learning from others’ prior experiences. I have also witnessed this in my workshops that draw participants from a variety of disciplines. There is an opportunity for growth and reflection as they hear one another’s experiences and share their own.

Educational developers must continuously innovate in response to the needs of those we are supporting. Methods that we have used in the past may not work with the current group and so it is vital to reflect quickly and act in response to any feedback we receive. For example, in one workshop I led with teachers from the Foothills School Division, I received feedback from the second session that they would like more time to discuss the topics presented. While this meant that we would cover fewer topics, I recognized the importance of going more in-depth and was able to change the third session in time to meet the participants’ needs. This resulted in participants being better prepared to act on their learning, reflecting that "the conversation and resources were so perfectly balanced. I walked away from the session feeling energized to put practical strategies in place.”

As an educational developer, I believe I am a co-leaner and not a gatekeeper of educational knowledge. I recognize that the teachers I work with bring a wealth of disciplinary knowledge and teaching expertise and that it is a privilege to bring out that knowledge to share with others. This is particularly important to me as someone who is new to educational development and I treat every encounter as an opportunity to learn from others. This is evidenced in the feedback I have received after workshops, as one workshop participant stated that “Brit was very open to learning herself. Great role model!”

As an educational developer and a researcher in postsecondary teaching and learning, I care immensely about the success of the teachers I work with and the success of their students. Reflecting on my own postsecondary experiences I have been extremely fortunate to have educators who care about me and my learning and it is my mission to create the same opportunities for as many other students as I can.