Call for Participants for “Sh!t-Disturbers: Contract Instructors as Disruptors & Change-Makers”

I’m Neil, and I’ve been a part-time/contract theatre teacher for the past eight years. I’d like to invite any and all part-time, contract, and contingent postsecondary theatre teacher to join me for a session of sharing and strategizing as part of the first leg of the CATR 2022 Conference.

This is a session for theatre teachers who don’t really know if they’ll have work in the fall. 

This is a session for theatre teachers who are piecing together their living expenses from multiple jobs, inside the academy and out.

Mostly this is a session for theatre teachers who want to make a difference. 

Making meaningful change in schools is challenging, and it’s extra challenging when you’re the hired gun. You don’t get a say in departmental policies you have to uphold, and you may not get much of a say in the syllabus you are asked to teach. It can be hard to keep track of which policies and resources are available to your students as you travel from campus to campus. And underlying everything is the worry about rocking the boat a little too and not being asked back next term. 

This 3-hour seminar is a virtual meet-up for part-time teachers of all stripes, whether you’re in the midst of your graduate studies, new to teaching at the postsecondary level, or an old hand with many years under your belt. Together we will share our struggles and successes in teaching theatre better. 

My hope is that, together, we can expand out tool-belts, and maybe dream up even better ways to care for our students, fix what needs fixing in our theatre departments, and take care of ourselves along the way. 

After we gather, I will be presenting a paper sharing some of our discoveries and strategies at a later act of the CATR conference.

When & Where

TIME & DATE TBD.

Where: Online via Gather.town – a virtual co-presence tool that lets us flexibly and easily reorganize ourselves into groups small and large. 

What You Might Be Asked to Bring

  • A willingness to share your triumphs and your failures.
  • The generosity to share a bit of your secret sauce and invite others to use it.
  • Enough patience and goodwill so that we all have the permission to try a new thought out imperfectly. 

What You Might Get

  • The opportunity to connect with other part-time teachers from across the country.
  • Some inspiring new ideas to bring into your classrooms.
  • The chance to be celebrated for the great work you’re already doing.

How To Register

Registration is limited. To enrol, please fill out the Google Form available at: https://forms.gle/7wVj2EBKF3pLUqqp6

If you have any questions, please reach out to me.

Happy teaching!