Inside the transition to teaching: Emerging educators share insights

For many Emerging Educator Symposium attendees, this September will mark the first time they’ve entered the classroom as educators, rather than as students.

In the weeks leading up to the fall term, emerging educators take part in faculty orientations and programs such as the Teaching Assistant Readiness Program offered through the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, alongside countless hours spent imagining their first day at the front of the classroom. The Emerging Educator Symposium brings those preparations into focus.

Held on Aug. 18, the symposium features practical, hands-on workshops designed to help graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and sessional instructors strengthen their teaching practice, connect with peers and prepare for the academic year ahead. It is followed by Teaching Days, a two-day event for emerging and established educators running Aug. 19–20.

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As emerging educators prepare to step into the classroom, perspectives from those who have already navigated that transition offer valuable insight. 

Below, Symposium presenter Dr. Alex Paquette, PhD'25, and past presenter Dr. Kathryn Blair, MFA'18, PhD'26, reflect on preparing for the academic year, building confidence and developing a teaching practice over time.

Paquette draws on experience translating teaching into student affairs and inclusion-focused roles, while Blair, a recent PhD graduate in computational media design and 2025 recipient of the Award for Graduate Assistants (Teaching), reflects on her experience as a sessional instructor and TA.

Throughout your career, what’s one piece of wisdom you’d like to share about teaching, what it means to be a teacher, or what it means to work with students?

Blair: Something I’ve been reflecting on recently is keeping empathy for how much students are going through and how much work they do, along with all the other things going on in their lives. So then as a teacher, what am I asking them to do, how much is it adding to all the things many of them have going on, and is it actually effective — is it worth the effort they would need to put in? Will they understand that it is worth the effort if I think it is? Especially when they can do so much with AI, making sure what I’m asking them to do is worth the effort and that they can understand why it’s important to do (with whatever level of support is appropriate) was always important but is becoming absolutely vital.

What’s one thing you’re excited to try with students?

Blair: The course I’ll be teaching in winter is more tied in to students’ own research interests than courses I’ve taught in the past, so I’m really excited to try different strategies to helping students clearly articulate their perspectives, goals and methods — and see how that plays out for lots of different students. And this will be the first time I’m teaching a graduate course.

What rituals do you go through to prepare for a new academic year?

Blair: I don’t know if I have rituals. I like to make sure I know what’s going on with any teaching I’m doing, meet up with anyone I’m teaching with and get to know them and plan out things I want to do in early classes. I like playing ambient music at the beginning of class. And I also do like planning out what I’m going to wear to teach. It makes me feel more confident and also gives me a way to express myself. I’ve gotten student feedback on my leggings, so I want to keep that up.

Why is an event like the Emerging Educators Symposium valuable for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars?

Paquette: When you're deep in research or coursework, teaching can feel like something you figure out on the fly and dedicated professional development around it is hard to come by. The Emerging Educators Symposium fills that gap. It's a rare opportunity to step back and think intentionally about how you want to teach and what kind of educator you want to become. You'll explore how to refine your practices, think through how to design and run a course and see what your peers are doing in their own classrooms. Most importantly, you'll connect with others who share that same passion for teaching and learning. If you've ever wanted space to grow into your identity as an educator, this is it.

What is one aspect of this event that you would encourage attendees to focus on?

Paquette: My one piece of advice would be to talk to as many people as you can. It can be easy to show up focused on the sessions and the content and that focus is absolutely worthwhile. But don't underestimate the people around you. You're in a room full of graduate students and postdocs who are asking the same questions about teaching that you are and that's genuinely rare. Some of the most valuable things you'll take away from this event won't come from the sessions. They'll come from the conversations you have in between them. Be open to those moments.