Overview
With the increased calls for learner-centered university environments, many faculty are more inclined to try new approaches to teaching, and many seek new techniques and have new stories to tell themselves about their experiences, but moving beyond telling stories to gaining an understanding of those stories can be even more satisfying and ultimately have more impact in classrooms. Experts advocate that faculty seek to convert their general insights into specific practices, but little has been written that shows faculty how to do this so that the result is more than a collection of new teaching techniques. There is a need to invite faculty to consider the stories they tell, examine them, and use the results of the analysis to bring a deeper understanding to teaching, especially when faculty confidence in teaching waxes and wanes over their many years of service. This book encourages and enables faculty to deeply examine their teaching experiences, stories, and choices so real insight results. The author invites faculty to recall stories from their own biographies, demonstrates how to view these stories as critical incidents instead of mere reminiscences, and introduces an approach faculty can undertake to analyze then interpret these stories for the benefit of professional growth in teaching.
