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 (GSs). 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 approaches 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 contributions 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 prepare 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 all submissions to 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 Forms. The form will ask for your full name, email address, affiliation, title of your paper, text submission via a textbox, optional photo upload, and related links.

Submission Deadlines

We are currently accepting submissions. Essays can be submitted for review for the following three deadlines: January 15, May 15, and September 15. Authors will receive a decision between six to eight weeks after the deadline.

Process

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. The editorial review will focus on the alignment of the essay to the goals of the Snapshots series (see above) and will assess writing style and mechanics. It is important to note that Snapshots is NOT a peer-reviewed publication.

Read past Snapshots of Practice on the TAGSA website. If you have any questions, please contact the TAGSA team at tagsa@stlhe.ca.

Submit Your TAGSA Snapshot of Practice