What is Teaching and Learning Excellence? 

We often hear the phrase ‘teaching and learning excellence’ in academia. Teaching and learning centers are designed to support faculty upon the foundation of teaching and learning excellence. My livelihood is based on supporting teaching and learning excellence as the Director of Teaching and Learning Excellence of CELTT. Yet, what do we mean when we say excellence? What is the difference between success and excellence?

I like to play tennis. It is good exercise, and some may even suggest that it is fun. But am I going to be the next Serena Williams? Not even close. Can I achieve tennis excellence? Absolutely! We often define success as being accomplished through the number of accolades we present to the world. I will never be the MVP of the tennis court, which makes me unsuccessful as a tennis player. Excellence, however, is achieved when we become the best version of ourselves; when we continuously improve and grow at an individual level of mastery based on our set of standards. Through practice, open-mindedness, willingness to fail, intrinsic motivation, and fortitude to learn, I can achieve tennis excellence.

Put another way, success is how good you are in relation to the rest of the world. Success is winning medals in competitions, good grades, and gold stars. Excellence, on the other hand, is how good you are in relation to how good you individually can be. In thinking about teaching and learning excellence, I believe we all have many accomplishments that define our success (e.g., degrees, awards). The challenge comes when we think about excellence as an individual pursuit of our willingness to learn, grow, create, collaborate, connect and support others. 

In celebration of our 50th Newsletter, I want us all to take a moment and reflect on what teaching and learning excellence means to you from a personal and professional perspective. As CELTT continues to partner with you to create new initiatives that provide faculty with a place for play, learning, growth, and connection, we want to introduce the Teaching Corner. The Teaching Corner will feature pedagogical articles for those looking for ways of pursuing excellence in our shared field: teaching and learning.

Thoughtfully,

Jessica