Convene, Commune, and Connect! A Tale of Two Faculty Learning Communities

Faculty learning communities, when implemented well, can provide faculty with a transformative professional development experience that taps into the power of a collaborative network of peers to build individual and institutional knowledges and supports faculty in adopting effective and equitable teaching practices. Within a robust and engaged faculty learning community, faculty both learn from and mentor their peers and establish a stronger sense of belonging and agency in guiding their own professional development journeys. In this session, attendees will hear from higher education association leadership, vendor partners, and faculty about how faculty learning communities can be implemented to support faculty professional development in service of achieving equitable student success. Supported by the Every Learner Everywhere network, the Personalized Learning Consortium at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities hosted and launched its Disciplinary Communities of Practice initiative during the 2021-2022 academic year. The initiative sought to bring disciplinary peers from math, biology, chemistry, and writing to identify, share, and develop discipline-specific teaching and learning strategies while focusing on effective practices and equitable digital learning.  Lumen Circles are virtual learning communities that connect faculty with their peers and provide faculty with professional development learning in the areas of self-reflective practices and evidence-based teaching. Join us for an interactive dialogue with experts and faculty peers where you will learn about these two models of faculty learning communities and how they can be leveraged to support faculty learning and student success at your institution.