Your Next Step: Valuing Your Teaching Skills and Competencies

Graduate students often take on various teaching duties during their studies, whether that is marking assignments, or facilitating classroom discussions. Having “teaching responsibilities” might be shorthand when you tell your cohort and colleagues about what you’re up to this term, but think back to when you were an undergraduate student would you be able to describe the work that goes into being a teaching assistant? Sure, one can easily copy and paste the role and responsibilities that are listed in your contract, but a more interesting exercise would be for you to reflect on the skills and competencies you developed during your journey, and then narrate these skills, and their transferability, to future employers.

Analytical and Creative Thinker

There has been growing concern to address what skills and competencies are needed in an increasingly complex and globalized world. The Future of Jobs Report (2023) from the World Economic Forum identified analytical and creative thinking as the most important skills for employees. Now, reflect on your role as a teaching assistant. How have you practiced and developed these skills and competencies in your roles and responsibilities? For example, when running labs or tutorials, you might have to come up with creative ideas to explain complex concepts in simple ways. If you ever stood in front of a classroom, you have probably faced some moments of blank stares and silence. In these instances, what did you do to distill complex information to make it accessible to learners? Reflecting on how you demonstrate analytical and creative thinking skills in teaching might spark memories of other areas of your life in which you have done that. This is a useful activity to build your awareness of your professional development and to recognize how your work can be reimagined in various professional careers.

Effective Communicator

All work requires some form of communication. As teaching assistant, you serve as a contact point between the course instructor and the students. Your communication can take different forms, such as talking to students in class, answering emails, posting announcements, etc. If you think about the professional workplace, you will be communicating with colleagues and supervisors in similar modes: emails, face-to-face interactions, virtual meetings, and reports. One of the main pillars of GradPD, a professional development program at Dalhousie University for graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, is communication. This emphasis on recognizes how communication skills, either written, verbal, or intercultural, is vital in the workplace. The ability to communicate your work is essential. Universities worldwide often host Three Minute Thesis (3MT) to build confidence and develop presentation skills. You might consider participating in GradPD or 3MT to develop your communication skills.

Mentor

Undergraduate students often look up to graduate teaching assistants and that means you are becoming a mentor. Being an effective mentor includes active listening and empathy. When reframing your TA work as mentorship, what skills and competencies do you want to highlight? Think about how you support the next generation of scholars in terms of 1-1 coaching or your mentorship style. Here are some guiding questions that can help you reflect on your skills:

• Have you received mentorship in the past? What did it look like, and how did it affect your path?

• What type of mentor do you want to be and why?

• How do you want to establish a solid foundation in a mentoring relationship?

Lifelong Learner

Think broadly! Your teaching role often encompasses identifying learning goals, supporting course planning, fostering inclusive learning spaces, providing feedback, and staying up to date with new technologies and disciplinary knowledge. I encourage you to expand that further – what does facilitating productive learning and discussions mean for the workplace? Why is it important to demonstrate your ability to be ready for varied teaching technologies? This mindset is needed in any professional career, as technology is rapidly changing and there are increasingly complex problems to solve. Your experience and expertise in the classroom are needed in the outside world.

What Story Do You Want to Tell?

In this journey of reflecting on your teaching experiences and identifying concrete examples of your analytical and creative thinking skills, effective communication abilities, mentorship style, and re(imagining) your role in the classroom the last part is the hardest part. How do you want to weave this story together? What makes you stand out, and how will this message be honed and conveyed to your future employers? Take a moment to pause to explore how you want to shape this narrative for yourself.

Further Reading

A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum by Jessica McCrory

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Work Your Career by Loleen Berdahl and Jonathan Malloy