About the Program (cont’d)
Program Description
As professionals we are all involved in a constant process of assessment,
renewal, and improvement. As teachers we are generally left to our own
devices to drive and motivate that process. However, the trial and error
method of teaching improvement is often a slow, lonely, uncertain pursuit.
Although teachers do change simply by trying new methods, we improve much
more rapidly by working with colleagues in the pursuit of specific goals.
The College of the Canyons Associate Program for adjunct instructors
provides a mechanism for sharing our teaching and working together. Just as
important, the program is designed to provide a concrete reward for the
pursuit of teaching excellence.
Simply put, the Associate Program is a series of workshops and activities
exclusively for adjunct instructors and completion of the entire program
results in a permanent increase in pay. Unlike many teaching workshops, the
Associate Program places an emphasis on the discussion, development and
practice of teaching skills rather than the dissemination of information.
There is no attempt to propagate a "one-best-way" nor is the program in any
way tied to the evaluation of job performance. Throughout the program,
participants are asked to demonstrate their teaching practices and to
discuss those practices with other faculty members. Participants, in turn,
have an opportunity to watch others teach and to learn from their
experiences. At every stage of the process faculty members are urged to
engage in “reflective practice.”
Blackboard
Canyons