If a teacher spends the bulk of her career ensconced in the classroom, and if the bulk of her professional efforts remain in the classroom – –the questions posed below will not have much relevance to her. But if a teacher wants to widen the arena of her work – – through action learning experiences for her students, through campus initiatives,  and through collaborations with the wider community– – She will very soon want answers for the questions below.

For the last several decades, the TEA team has been answering these questions for themselves as they conduct their work. In addition, the TEA team has supported faculty across the state and nation to: collaborate with fellow faculty, navigate their institution, interact with the wider community, and much more. 

The questions below are typical of those that a faculty member will face as she begins to navigate the world outside the classroom. TEA has the answers to these questions, and is poised to support faculty locally as they take the kind of action necessary to combat the climate crisis and to elevate their students learning experience. These are questions that faculty have posed to us time and again:

Teachers ask:

• Do what I want to do in my own class?

• Not get trapped by having to “cover the material?”

• Get the dean to trust me? Support me?

• Hire student teams? Train them? Get them paid? 

• Navigate the HR brambles?

• Write a grant to support my Action Learning Initiative? 

• How do you bring multiple teachers together? 

• Multiple disciplines together?

• Multiple campuses together?

• How do you determine who the right players are? 

• What is the right number of people, especially at that first meeting?

• Forge a relationship with college staff and facilities personnel?

• Forge a relationship with another discipline?

• Forge a relationship with the wider community?

• Can you tell me more about the logistics of working with my district?