STLHE 2016 SAPES

In December 2015, the Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student Advancement (TAGSA) SIG of STLHE, announced the publication of a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Higher Education (CJHE) on the theme “Quality Enhancement: Teaching Preparation for Graduate Teaching Assistants.” It was the culmination of a year-long collaborative process led by the TAGSA Executive —many of whom are graduate students—to recruit, select, and publish articles on graduate teaching assistant (TA) preparation in North America. In this session, members of the TAGSA Executive who served as co-editors will discuss the impetus and context for the issue; the process of preparing the issue, including deciding on roles, processes, and timelines; and lessons learned. As individuals committed to reflexive practice (see Ryan, Amorim, & Kusch, 2010), we highlight the obstacles, tensions, successes, and challenges that emerged during the preparation of the issue and the strategies used to overcome these challenges (see Kligyte & Barrie, 2014). Our session will encourage attendees to (a) reflect on the value of involving graduate students in the academic publishing process; (b) appreciate the individual and collaborative work involved in putting together a special issue; and (c) share important experiences, concerns, and ways forward. Audience members will leave the presentation with a roadmap of one particular approach for initiating and executing a collaborative, student-focused, special issue of a journal, which can be easily adapted to suit different professional, disciplinary, or institutional contexts.


References

Kligyte, G., & Barrie, S. (2014). Collegiality: Leading us into fantasy – the paradoxical resilience of collegiality in academic leadership. Higher Education Research and Development, 33(1), 157–169.

Ryan, C., Amorim, A. C., & Kusch, J. (2010). Writing ourselves reflectively. Reflective Practice, 11(2), 115–125.