Communities of Practice and Care

Communities of Practice and Care (CoPCs) are all about connection: with each other, the students we teach, the places we come from, and the places we want to go. Grad students and postdocs are welcome to join us in these low-stakes, relationship-focused spaces to share, explore, and grow together towards mutual flourishing for all.

CoPC on Decolonizing Teaching Practices

This fall, join graduate and postdoctoral educators in a Community of Practice and Care exploring decolonizing teaching and learning practices.

Program Overview

We warmly invite graduate students and postdoctoral educators to join our Communities of Practice and Care (CoPC) programming. This cohort-based programming is designed and facilitated based on the interconnected principles of radical caredisability justice, decolonizing pedagogies, and slow academia. Usually offered online, these learning communities are intended to foster connection amongst graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, offering supportive, collaborative environments for relationality, pedagogical exploration, and capacity building. 

During lightly facilitated, biweekly gatherings, we will seek to do the following: 

  • Build networks of care 
  • Explore engaging, equitable, and accessible teaching practices 
  • Cultivate sustainable and collaborative teaching practices 
  • Identify and collate campus resources that support pedagogy and well-being 

Note: Participants of semester-long CoPCs can earn up to two Future Prof credits towards the Western Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. 

Upcoming Session

Community of Practice and Care on Decolonizing Teaching Practices 

This CoPC has been designed to offer opportunities for graduate and postdoctoral learners to consider our responsibilities for decolonizing teaching and learning during a moment of uncertainty and tension in higher education and society more broadly. Together, we will explore questions such as 

  • What do we mean when we talk about decolonizing teaching?  
  • What is the impact of our intersectional identities on this work? 
  • How might assessment design align with decolonization work? 
  • How can educators welcome and celebrate different ways of knowing, being, and communicating in our teaching and learning spaces? 

Through individual and collective reflection, resource sharing, and imagining possible futures, we will support each other in this ongoing work of learning and unlearning. 

Date: Fall 2026 (biweekly; days and times to be determined based on Expression of Interest form) 

Modality: Online via Zoom 


Previous CoPC Themes

Winter 2026: Intercultural Connections & Pedagogies 

Fall 2025: Accessibility in Teaching & Learning 

Graduate Students sitting together and smiling