Learning to Teach: An Illustrative Case from the Canadian Community College System

Overview & Synopsis

In both the United States and Canada, higher education faculty have access to voluntary faculty development activities through continuing professional education departments, but rarely are preparatory programs available for those preparing to become faculty. Faculty development initiatives are only infrequently grounded in adult education principles and practices, though some writers advocate this. As well, there is little overlap between the primary faculty development association, Professional and Organizational Development, and the various adult education associations, such as the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education and the American Association for Adult Continuing Education; neither is there very much crossover in the literature between teaching and learning in higher education and adult education. Yet faculty who are learning about teaching are, or could be, engaged in adult education. This chapter provides one instance of how community college faculty in a Canadian college system are treated as adult learners and how they bring their knowledge of adult education theories and skills into their practice.