Faculty Mentor Program

This 3-hour workshop gives you the tools to take a strengths-based approach to wellness in your role at Western. Learn how to practice wellness in your daily life, promote wellness in your professional role, and refer individuals struggling with their mental health to professional support. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to: describe the elements of – and challenge misconceptions about – mental health and mental illness; apply tools and resources to identify students in distress and support them in accessing appropriate mental health resources; design new strategies to reach students who are less likely to request mental health support. This session will be facilitated by:

• Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Rebecca Smith, Student Experience
• Erin Anderson, Student Experience

Students always enter teaching environments with personal histories which we might not know, but nonetheless impact how they learn and engage in classrooms. This is also true for courses that explore topics like racism, sexual violence, homophobia, etc., where our students might have personal histories of trauma and/or violence as a result of their lived experiences relating to these issues. This workshop provides an overview of some best practices for teaching 'sensitive' issues online, through trauma- and violence-informed approaches. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: reflect on some of the challenges and opportunities involved in teaching sensitive material; describe four key principles of trauma- and violence-informed care; and implement teaching strategies based on these principles for teaching about sensitive issues online. This session will be facilitated by:

• Melanie-Anne Atkins
• Nicole Fice

Students always enter teaching environments with personal histories which we might not know, but nonetheless impact how they learn and engage in classrooms. This is also true for courses that explore topics like racism, sexual violence, homophobia, etc., where our students might have personal histories of trauma and/or violence as a result of their lived experiences relating to these issues. This workshop provides an overview of some best practices for teaching 'sensitive' issues online, through trauma- and violence-informed approaches.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to: reflect on some of the challenges and opportunities involved in teaching sensitive material; describe four key principles of trauma- and violence-informed care; and implement teaching strategies based on these principles for teaching about sensitive issues online.

Presenter: Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Please note: Workshop anti-requisite: Leadership in Wellness: A strengths-based approach

You have learned the basics about mental health and mental illness. Now you want to learn how to take a strengths-based approach to cultivating student mental health in your classroom. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to: describe the elements of – and challenge misconceptions about – mental health and mental illness; apply tools and resources to identify students in distress and support them in accessing appropriate mental health resources; and design new strategies to reach students who are less likely to request mental health support.

Presenters:

• Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Rebecca Smith, Studetnt Experience

Please note:

• Workshop anti-requisite: Leadership in Wellness: A strengths-based approach
• Workshop pre-requisite: Cultivating Student Mental Health

In this highly interactive workshop, practice and participate in multiple feedback cycles using the Notice-Listen-Connect model to: initiate a mental health conversation with a struggling student; engage in an authentic, strengths-based dialogue with your student; and refer your student to professional support. Be prepared to use your webcam and microphone during the session.

Presenters:

• Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Rebecca Smith, Studetnt Experience

How you can you apply the concepts of cultural humility and cultural safety to develop a culturally affirming teaching practice? In this workshop, we will examine how we might begin to dismantle six stumbling blocks to intercultural communication (Barna, 1998) in order to better meet the needs of a diverse population of learners. Be prepared to: reflect on the intersection of your personal and professional identities; share your ideas about how to amplify underrepresented voices in your classroom or curriculum; and make a plan for next steps to change how you teach, mentor, and assess your students.

Presenters: Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Navigating academia requires intercultural communication skills. Often, we give feedback to students using taken-for-granted assumptions derived from our disciplinary traditions and previous experiences with feedback. In this workshop, we will examine how diverse perceptions and understandings about power distance, time, criticism, initiative, and originality contribute to misunderstandings when giving and receiving feedback.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to: identify elements of effective intercultural feedback; use an intercultural framework to reflect on misunderstandings; and plan how you might rethink and restructure the way you give feedback to – and receive feedback from – your students.

Presenters: Melanie-Anne Atkins, Centre for Teaching and Learning