“I took this group of students to the top of a volcano and just watched their faces as they took the environment in…that’s what inspires me.”

Carolyn Eyles, 3M National Teaching Fellow and director of McMaster’s Integrated Sciences Program

Eyles’ experience is just one of the many stories that make up Soul on Fire: Narratives that Inspire, a new series of podcasts featuring conversations with some of McMaster’s top teaching faculty.

The series was developed by Anne Wong, professor and assistant dean of the Program for Faculty Development at the Faculty for Health Sciences. Her goal is to use narrative as a way to approach faculty development.

“I wanted to do something out-of-the-box and go beyond instructional courses and workshops,” says Wong. “Narrative is so powerful. It’s a way of getting into someone’s thought process and finding out what inspires them. I thought this would be a really great way to engage faculty and help ignite, or reignite, their ‘spark’ for teaching.”

Wong began by contacting seven instructors known for being exemplary teachers from a range of disciplines and at varying stages of their careers. Then, working in partnership with faculty and staff from the McMaster Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (MIIETL), she set about capturing their stories.

The podcasts cover a number of topics from personal growth and career development to teaching philosophies. They also provide concrete, “take-home” advice to faculty, such as tips on how to engage students.

The series was funded through Forward with Integrity as part of a process aimed at finding new ways to support faculty development at McMaster. Wong says she plans to expand the project and will be working with MIIETL to create more podcasts.

“We have so many exceptional McMaster faculty,” says Wong. “I hope that by hearing from instructors who are so energized by what they do, it will inspire faculty to realize their own academic potential and help them move forward with their personal and professional journey.”

As part of the project, Wong will research the effectiveness of narrative in faculty development and gather data from the surveys that accompany each podcast, as well as through social media and focus groups with students and faculty.

Instructors featured in Soul on Fire: Narrative that Inspire include:

• Bruce Wainman, 3M National Teaching Fellow, director of the Education Program in Anatomy and associate professor of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. He says: “If you’re going to bother to bring 600 people into a room, you better have something to say.”  Go to the podcast

• Joe Kim, associate professor of the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour. He says: “As a researcher, I’ve been really interested in the science of learning…how do teachers and students actually know what to do in this teaching and learning dynamic?” Go to the podcast

• Kevin Dunn, assistant professor and associate chair, undergraduate, of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He says: “Seeing all these Open Educational Resources develop is something I really am passionate about because not everyone has access to expensive textbooks.” Go to the podcast

• Carolyn Eyles, 3M National Teaching Fellow and director of McMaster’s Integrated Sciences Program. She says: “We’re trying to design and develop the most effective program. It’s very creative, as we do things that are a little bit more experimental in our teaching and educational approach. That’s what’s so exciting.” Go to the podcast

• Catherine Anderson, teaching professor in the Department of Linguistics & Languages. She says: “This is my community…this isn’t just my job that I do between these hours…this is how I’ve invested my life.” Go to the podcast

• Jean Chamberlain-Froese, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She says: “Every day, 800 mothers are dying from pregnancy-related complications…that’s like two jumbo jets crashing every single day.” Go to the podcast

• Arshad Ahmad, 3M National Teaching Fellow and associate vice-president, teaching and learning at McMaster University and the director of the McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He says: “My real interest in education evolved following a series of critical incidents…” Go to the podcast