Lethbridge College demonstrates an ongoing commitment to advancing excellence in teaching and learning. Developed in collaboration with Lethbridge College instructors, the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is an important resource that supports instructors as they seek out opportunities to engage in continuous professional learning to improve their teaching practice and benefit student learning.
The purpose of the TEF is to:
Six dimensions make up the heart of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Think of the dimensions as the “big ideas” that shape the types of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that instructors at Lethbridge College are encouraged to develop.
Each dimension contains four to six focus areas. The focus area will help to point instructors to the knowledge, skills and attitudes deemed necessary to support their teaching practice.
Click on each dimension for more information and indicators of effective practice.
This dimension describes how instructors foster a supportive, inclusive, and equitable learning environment for all learners.
This dimension describes how instructors plan, develop, reflect on, and revise a variety of teaching methods to facilitate learning for all students.
This dimension describes how instructors design, revise, and keep courses up-to-date given the larger frames of program curriculum and the needs of diverse learners.
This dimension describes how instructors assess and evaluate student learning while considering institutional policies and procedures.
This dimension describes how instructors remain current within their respective fields, professions, and/or industries and how they share their expertise for the benefit of student learning.
This dimension describes how instructors engage in reflective teaching practice to inform their teaching approaches, teaching philosophy, and research interests for the benefit of student learning.
The Teaching Excellence Framework recognizes that instructors are best positioned to prioritize their own learning needs based on their awareness of the unique and varied teaching contexts in which they teach. Instructors planning their professional development are encouraged to use the TEF as a source of inspiration to identify areas of future growth and/or to reflect on existing areas of strength that could be further developed.
Sample indicators of effective practice within each TEF focus area illustrate how instructors might apply the focus area in their own teaching contexts. The sample indicators will help instructors to pinpoint the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they already possess and/or those they would like to further develop.
The sample indicators are organized into three levels: Involved, Engaged, and Leading. The levels are not dependent on the length of time that one has been an instructor; Lethbridge College instructors begin their teaching careers with varied professional and academic backgrounds. Instead, as one moves from Involved to Engaged to Leading, the complexity of the skills and/or tasks increase.
Click on each dimension, above, for more information and indicators of effective practice.
In the short term, the goal of the TEF is to support reflective teaching practice among instructors and improve the efficiency of the PD planning process.
In the mid-term, the TEF framework will enable the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CTLI) to offer more targeted professional development offerings—in alignment with the dimensions and focus areas identified in the TEF.
The intended long-term impact of the TEF is to advance instructors’ knowledge and skill as educators to provide an all-around better learning experience for both instructors and students.
With support from college leadership, the TEF was developed by the Teaching Excellence Working Group, comprising faculty from each academic centre and the Educational Development Team, located in the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CTLI). In addition to the working group, a variety of other stakeholders were consulted including Human Resources, Student Affairs departments, and the Lethbridge College Faculty Association.
Milestones in the engagement process included:
Thank you to Gillian Comchi, Julie Deimert, Jim Laing, Ronald Papp, Shane Roersma, and Ibrahim Turay for their engagement as part of the Teaching Excellence Working Team.
