We want to recognize and celebrate the amazing work, lives and contributions of faculty members at Centennial College by sharing the narratives of their personal and/or professional journeys. Stories in the spotlight can range from the meaningful interactions you have had with other educators or students, to your journey into the world of teaching.

Particularly at this time when some may feel isolated from our college community, we hope that Spotlight stories will help us reconnect with each other through the (re)discovery of our shared experiences in this new online space.

Tell us your unique teaching stories of challenges and triumphs, your epiphanies and failures! Every story is welcome here.

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How does The Spotlight work?

Our new faculty spotlight will highlight the personal teaching stories of educators at Centennial, what they learned along the way (the good and the bad) and/or the positive impact they have (or had) on their students. The faculty spotlight will be published online in our new open educational resource (OER) with The Collection.

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Who can contribute?

Any person who has taught at a college is welcome to share their story. This includes current and former contract and full-time faculty. All levels of teaching experience welcome. If you know someone who has a story to share, tap them on the shoulder!

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How can you share your story?

We really want you to share your personal experiences with us. The intent behind the Spotlight is to learn from the experiences of others in our community to better understand our students and how to enhance our teaching practice, as well as learn more about each other. Spotlight submissions differ from Collection contributions because Stories should be focused upon experiences that have had a profound effect on you, so there is a distinct element of personal reflection involved in this. We all have stories that range from simple day-to-day moments to big events that cause us to reflect on learning; what it is, what motivates us, and how to do it better. Your story can be from your perspective as a teacher or from your time as a student. It is completely up to you and what you are comfortable with. Whether you want to craft a beautifully written story, blog post or record an interview-style video, it’s up to you! Here are some general questions to help you ponder about potential spotlight stories to submit:

• Was there a particular experience which had an impact on your on your decision to become an educator?
• Was there an assessment you completed as a student that had a lasting impact on you as a person? On your career?
• Has a student or class had a profound impact on you as a person and/or as a teacher?
• When you were a student, was there a particular experience or teacher that stood out to you?
• Are there personal experiences or influences in your life that inform your teaching style or teaching philosophy?

Creative Commons Licence: Centennial College will publish your contribution to The Studio on this website. It will be shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence. This means other educators can copy and distribute your material for non-commercial purposes as long as they credit you but cannot adapt, remix, transform or build upon your story.

Tips for Your Story

• Centre your story around a single event/experience
• Feel free to pull more of the personal aspects into this – your thoughts and feelings throughout the experience/event and how they changed
• Emphasize the impact – why does it stand out to you to this day? What is the relevance of this event to your life, career and/or practice?
• What did you learn from the experience?
• What questions, thoughts and reflections resulted from your experience? What are you still seeking the answers to?

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Need help?

If you have a story but you’re not sure how to share it, get in touch with us at COLT@centennialcollege.ca. A COLT faculty member would be happy to help you!

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