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The CLT warmly invites members of the teaching and learning communities of Dalhousie, The University of King鈥檚 College, Halifax, and beyond, to join us in our third annual Transformative Pedagogies retreat.

Our theme this year is Access to Learning: Multifocal Approaches to Accessibility.

Students experience barriers to learning for many reasons and in particular, students of equity-denied groups. This includes, for example, Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+++, those with disabilities, and/or non-Christian communities. And many students are from two or more communities, compounding the barriers to, and inequities in, their education.  For this reason, conversations and teaching practices centering 鈥渁ccessibility鈥� must attend to the whole student and to cultivate learning environments wherein all members contribute to accessible, equitable, and socially just education.

Each year, the Transformative Pedagogies Retreat provides an unhurried space for folk to learn, converse, reflect, integrate, and connect with others who share a passion for transformational education. Continuing with this tradition, we are looking forward to having robust and thoughtful discussions and reflections, as the members of the teaching and learning community come together.

Link to view the program and register.

Wednesday, June 18
10鈥�11:30 am
Killam Library, Room B400*
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鈥淭here鈥檚 something special about a woman who dominates in a man鈥檚 world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.鈥� 鈥� Rihanna, Barbadian singer and businesswoman

Countless studies have highlighted the many expressions of gender inequality that women in academia face, such as systemic discrimination, precarious teaching contracts, gender wage gaps, negatively biased student evaluations, and underrepresentation in more senior roles (Johnstone & Momani, 2024). In this in-person session, join CLT and Dalhousie鈥檚 very own Rachael Johnstone, editor of Glass Ceilings and Ivory Towers: Gender Inequality in the Canadian Academy to learn:

• How gender inequality manifests in the daily academic lives of women in academia
• Structural and systemic challenges women academics experience
• How intersectionality influences gender inequality for woman academics (e.g., race, age)

This session will provide a safe space to share personal experiences if you wish. We will collectively explore approaches and brainstorm strategies (e.g., compassionate pedagogy, allyship, social media) that can be used to chip away at the structural and systemic factors that perpetuate gender inequality in academia.

Facilitator

Daniella Sieukaran, Senior Educational Developer (Program Development), CLT

Guest Speaker

Rachael Johnstone, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Intended Audience

• Instructors
• Graduate Students
• Teaching Assistants

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

The organizers of the  invite you to their upcoming Change One Thing workshop:

Belonging by Design: Change One Thing to Tweak Assessments to Foster a Sense of Belonging

Tuesday, June 17
11:30 a.m.鈥�1 p.m.
In-person (Haley building, Room 254 (Agriculture Campus, Truro) and Online via MS Teams
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Grading should do more than sort students; it should help them feel they belong and that the course is designed to help them learn and thrive. In this Change one Thing workshop, we will dive into hands-on design to explore retooling assessments (grading, feedback, or evaluation method) to foster a sense of belonging. To make the most of this session, we invite you to attend and:

• Share an activity or approach that has already fostered belonging in your teaching or learning journey.
• Identify one assessment practice begging for a redesign toward inclusion.
• Collaboratively develop a change you can implement within weeks

Thursday, June 19
9 a.m.鈥�4 p.m.
Killam Library, Room 2600 (LINC/Collider)
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Join us for a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) retreat designed to help you move your project forward in a supportive and collaborative environment. Whether you're just getting started or deep into your writing, this retreat offers structured time for reflection, goal setting, focused work, and peer feedback. Connect with fellow educators, share your progress, and leave with renewed momentum and clear next steps. Come ready to reflect, write, analyze... and make progress on your SoTL journey!

Light snacks and coffee will be provided.

Wednesday, July 9
1鈥�3 p.m.
Online via Microsoft Teams

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Meeting ID: 265 127 631 787 3
Passcode: Up9YH3ur

Come to our Course Refresh virtual drop-in session to create a personalized support experience and ask questions about how to improve your courses for the upcoming school year. Ask a CLT Senior Educational Developer how to increase student engagement, design better lecture slides, improve student assessments, and anything else you may be interested in! Drop in anytime during the two-hour window. Registration is NOT required.  

Facilitator

Daniella Sieukaran (she/her)
Senior Educational Developer (Program Development)

Reimagining Student Engagement in a Changing Educational Landscape

Thursday, July 10
Truro Campus
McRae Library Student Learning Commons Program Room

In times marked by rapid technological shifts, evolving learner expectations, and increasingly diverse classrooms, how do we meaningfully reflect on student engagement? Join us for a day of exploration, discussion, and engagement at CLT鈥檚 Teaching and Learning Retreat 2025.

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Tuesday, July 15
10鈥�11:30 a.m.
Killam Library, Room B400*
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Want to spend LESS time grading and providing feedback? Grading using rubrics has many benefits such as reducing grading time for instructors, and providing clear and consistent expectations to students. In this in-person workshop, you will:

• Learn the purpose and principles underlying grading using rubrics.
• Be introduced to different types of rubrics, the components that make up a rubric, appropriate language to use for rubrics, and the step-by-step process for constructing effective rubrics.
• Participate in a rubric swap! Exchange rubric feedback with a peer. 

Workshop participants are kindly asked to bring one paper copy of a rubric that you are looking to gather feedback on. If you do not have one, a sample rubric will be provided by the workshop facilitator.

Facilitator

Daniella Sieukaran, Senior Educational Developer (Program Development), CLT

Intended Audience

• Instructors
• Graduate Students
• Teaching Assistants

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Wednesday, July 16
11 a.m.鈥�12 p.m.
In-Person, Department of Biology Outdoor Learning Space
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Join us for an enriching outdoor discussion that delves into the practices of gratitude, reciprocity, and the generosity of nature as we explore how the gift economy thinking can offer meaningful insights into fostering more inclusive and relational approaches to teaching and learning. 

Drawing from the inspiring work of Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi Nation), we will reflect on her vision of abundance and interconnectedness both in the natural world and human relationships. We highly recommend attendees read Robin Wall Kimmerer鈥檚 The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (2024)  or listen to (link opens in new window) in preparation for this session.

Through this session, we aim to explore how principles of reciprocity and gratitude can be meaningfully translated into teaching and learning contexts. How can we nurture environments that encourage generosity, mindfulness, and interconnection, both in educational spaces and beyond? What lessons can we learn from nature鈥檚 abundance, and how might we apply those lessons to our own practices of teaching and learning?

We invite all participants to join in an open and reflective discussion, sharing ideas, experiences, and insights that may help us collectively imagine more generous and sustainable ways of living and learning.

Facilitators

Suzanne Le-May Sheffield, Director Centre for Learning and Teaching
Rachelle McKay, Educational Developer 鈥� Indigenous Knowledges & Ways of Knowing

Details to be confirmed.

The aim of this hands-on, in-person workshop is to introduce key techniques in qualitative data coding and analysis using NVivo software and/or Excel. Participants will gain essential tools to organize, code, and draw meaningful insights from their qualitative data. During the session, you鈥檒l learn how to prepare your data and explore foundational coding techniques, such as in-vivo and thematic coding, to categorize and understand your data more deeply. Through interactive exercises, participants will identify themes and patterns and create a codebook that enhances clarity and consistency throughout the coding process. Additionally, we鈥檒l briefly discuss reliability coding principles in qualitative research.

Bring your own data, or use provided sample datasets for hands-on practice if you don鈥檛 have data prepared.鈥�

Please bring a laptop computer with you to this workshop.

Facilitator

Dr. Nasim Tavassoli 鈥� Educational Developer (Student Development) with the CLT鈥�