4.5 Non-Teaching Terms

Most instructors usually get a non-teaching term each year, but not all. We think that all full time instructors should get one. A non-teaching term is important for those considered Lecturers or research faculty:

• If one cares about providing value, high quality learning to the students, having an instructor going flat out for a year at a time is too much.
• It creates stress, fatique, morale issues, and impact motivation.

• All of this impacts the teaching, which impacts the student learning.

It is something to consciously think about and not let the time slip by. Contrary to what some say or do, it is not the time to bag off.

Here are some of our thoughts about non-teaching terms...

• It should be a time without other, excessive tasks loaded in by department management because someone is not teaching.
• It is a time to reflect on the last term(s) and do a teaching post-review. What worked as expected? What did not? What should have been done differently? Why? This is at the learning outcomes, content, methods, and delivery levels. Use of TAs, everything!
• It is a time to think about future terms. What needs to be changed in a major way? Introduced? Dropped? Refined? What work needs to be done to prepare for the change, to introduce the change smoothly, to execute the change?
• It is a time to keep abreast of the 'best practices' and this can be done via self-study, seminars, or workshops. This is being a professional - the neuroscience, cognitive psychology, teaching/learning topics. No one else can do this for you. Tis up to you.
• It is a time to learn what your peers are doing, what the students are being exposed to in the vertical, horizontal supply chain. As often noted on this site, you are not on an island. There is other stuff going on and you have an impact on that stuff, and that stuff can impact you too.
• It is a time to sit in, observe others, to learn from your peers in the classroom, and perhaps understand and see more junior students.
• It is a time to pay back, help others with their courses, provide feedback to the buddy group.
• It is also a time to practice and get experience with anything new you are hoping to roll out. You can do this by assisting an instructor who is currently using the same technique, or doing some practice runs with friendly students.
• It is not the time to be loaded up with extract projects for the department.

Further reading

• Gopaul, B., Jones, G.A., Weinrib, J., Metcalfe, A., Fisher, D., Gingras, Y., and K. Rubenson (2016). The Academic Profession in Canada: Perceptions of Canadian University Faculty about Research and Teaching, Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46, 2, pp. 55-77.