Central to achieving the transformational goals of individual growth, teaching development, and innovation in teaching and learning, is the hard work of instructors who are supported through teaching consultations. Successful consultations are rooted in the rapport needed for trust, openness and willingness to risk and change. The methods used to build rapport during consultations constantly shift - evolving over time with experience, and adapting to each individual’s goals and needs.
Rapport-building in consultations is a dynamic process that takes two: the faculty, instructor or graduate student seeking the consultation, and the mentor or educational developer facilitating the conversation. These roles may be distinct or may be blurred with educational developers who teach undergraduate courses, faculty who offer consultations, and others. This STLHE session is aimed at growing our shared understanding of rapport-building through open conversation where individuals attending share their experiences and insight in providing and seeking consultations.
Our recent interview study with instructional/educational developers offers initial insights that we look forward to sharing, clarifying and expanding through continued discussions. Previous research had examined the expanding role of educational developers (e.g., Gillespie, Robertson, & Associates, 2010; Stanley, 2001) and the importance of interpersonal skills (e.g., Berquist & Phillips, 1975; Wright & Miller, 2000), however we were missing a deep understanding of rapport-building in teaching consultations from both the educational developer and faculty/instructor perspective.
The primary purpose of this session is to share and discuss existing findings and receive feedback about our research project. We invite educational developers, administrators, faculty, instructors, graduate students and any member of the community interested to join in the discussion. We look forward to the conversations!