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Xinli Wang Post 1

• 14 June 2018, 1:37 PM

Reflection: how to build meaningful connections

I'm usually not afraid of collaborating with other colleagues. In fact most of the time I truly enjoy it. 

However, our family just recently moved to Canada from Singapore and I'm working as a sessional lecturer at two institutions.

I find it extremely difficult to build meaningful relationships with my colleagues here. I don't even meet most of them on a daily basis. People come to campus to teach and then they go. Whenever I'm on campus, I'm running between my lecture theaters with little time to "socialize". I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way to connect to people. That would be the very first step before any collaboration can happen. I find going to workshops on campus and join reading groups helps. I did manage to connect to a few new colleagues who share the same interest in this way. If you have any other suggestion/advice for me, I would really love to hear from you. 

Jenni Hayman Post 2 in reply to 1

• 16 June 2018, 5:02 PM

Book clubs around teaching practice is a new idea I learned about recently that seems to be a great possibility. Someone also suggested to me that they have established a connection practice of having coffee with like-minded thinkers (open, innovative). I can't remember what it's called, but it's something fun and lighthearted (like Crazy Colleagues Coffee Hour). If you have a teaching and learning centre, that's often a place to form relationships, perhaps a lunch and learn series, maybe even around use of OER in the fall. Just some ideas.