There is an old proverb that says “it takes a village to raise a child” - that it takes an entire community of people to provide for the growth and development of a healthy child. It is also true that the same principle applies to early career teachers and scholars. As we develop in both roles, we depend on our networks of teaching mentors to guide our development, direct our attention, and build our work in new directions.

Having a strong teaching network can be an incredible resource. It can help you test out new ideas before bringing them into the classroom by first getting feedback from a senior educator or faculty member. Or, it can help you to find support in your fellow teaching assistants when grading exams and managing your own classes at the end of a long quarter becomes overwhelming. Teaching networks don’t all look the same but having one is essential for developing as an educator.

[Image Description: A photo of Hallstatt, Austria – a small town perched between a lake and mountains.]

Pictured: It takes a village of people to support the development of early career teachers and scholars.

Building a teaching network begins with understanding the local culture. Does your department value and support teaching? Or, is teaching seen as a distraction from the cutting-edge research done at UCR? Who are the students in your program and what are their needs? If you’re in a teaching-oriented department, you might have many potential teaching mentors among the faculty. If you’re in a department with less of an emphasis on teaching, you might find more support among your fellow students.

In all departments, however, you’ll teach discussion or laboratory sections for faculty members. Senior faculty with an interest and passion for teaching are often one of the greatest resources available to you. Not only can they inform your teaching with the benefit of their experiences, but they often know other faculty and students interested in teaching to connect you with.

Talking to those faculty members in one-on-one meetings can help establish a long-term and professional foundation for your teaching network. Making that connection last means not only talking about your immediate teaching questions – what will be taught this week or next – but also challenges and your own professional development as a teacher. You can also go back to faculty you’ve taught for in the past for advice on future courses. Doing so helps keep your teaching network alive over many quarters.

[Image Description: Two women looking at a tablet and laughing.]

Pictured: Our mentors can take many forms – including faculty and even peers.

Most departments also have faculty devoted to teaching and learning. This person will often be involved in managing laboratories or large sets of discussion sections. Establishing a relationship with teaching and learning faculty can help build your network across the campus, as these people will know other teaching and learning faculty in other departments or at other universities. Building lasting connections across UCR and at other schools can help you find teaching or even research positions after graduate school.

Quantity and quality of your teaching network both matter. First, you want a network composed of many people and many perspectives, which helps you develop a teaching perspective that is more adaptable. However, it's also critical to build deep and lasting relationships with those in your network, allowing opportunities to strengthen and develop your skills over the long term. One way to do this is to participate in the Teaching Assistant Development Program (TADP). TADP has teaching mentors – graduate students with training in classroom teaching and pedagogical theory – that you can meet with to plan out your teaching development. And TADP and GradSuccess are also great places to meet other students interested in teaching development. By attending coffee socials or stopping by drop-in hours, you can find support and networking opportunities with students and faculty across the campus.