TAGSA, a special interest group of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), is soliciting first-person essays written by teaching assistants (TAs), graduate assistants (GAs), and graduate students (GS). The essays may cover a wide range of topics centred on teaching and learning practices at Canadian universities. The purposes of these essays are to:

• Highlight TAs/GAs’ and GSs’ diverse experiences and approach to Teaching and Learning across Canadian postsecondary institutions;
• Raise awareness of TA/GAs’ and GSs’ anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives in transforming teaching and learning practices;
• Present TA/GAs’ and GS instructors’ hopes, projects, and contribution related to Universal Design for Learning; and
• Identify resources and strategies in practice across the country.

Some guiding questions/prompts:

• How did you prepare for your TA/GA or instructor position this academic year?
• What resource(s) and/or support(s) helped you in your preparation to be an instructor or TA/GA?
• What is one thing you wish you knew before your first TA/GA or instructor appointment?

We expect that all submissions will be written with equity, diversity, and inclusion in mind.

FORMAT

Essays should be between 400 and 750 words in either English or French. For English-written essays, we use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary for spelling and follow the latest edition of the APA Publication Manual. Submissions are accepted via Google Form. The form will ask for your full name, email address, affiliation, the title of your paper, text submission via a textbox, and optional photo upload and related links. Submissions will be published in the language in which we receive them.

CALL TIMELINE

The call is now open. We will be accepting submissions until November 30, 2021.

ACCEPTANCE

Upon submission, your essay will go through editorial review by the Communications Subcommittee of TAGSA. Any essays that are perceived to contradict the items in the STLHE Civility Policy will not be accepted. Editorial review will focus on the alignment of the essay to the goals of the Snapshots blog (see above) and will be assessed for writing style and mechanics. It is important to note that Snapshots is NOT a peer-reviewed blog.

If you have any questions, please contact the TAGSA team at tagsa@stlhe.ca.

Submission Link: https://forms.gle/5GiGhvXpfGiqejrE8