Teaching Development Fellows: Strengthening FAS Teacher Training through Peer Mentorship

This fall, the Bok Center welcomed a cohort of ten Teaching Development Fellows (TDFs).  Fellows received an intensive orientation during late July and early August to prepare them to co-facilitate, alongside Bok Center staff, training sessions for over 1500 new and returning TFs, TAs, and CAs at the beginning of the Fall 2026 semester. TDFs were selected from a competitive pool of applicants, and all TDFs came in with teaching experience in the FAS and an interest in developing higher-level thinking about pedagogical principles and training their peers in practical teaching methods. The selected TDFs represented all FAS divisions (Science, SEAS, Social Science, and Arts & Humanities).

The Teaching Development Fellows greatly enriched the experience of TF/TA/CA training by offering a (near) peer’s perspective on common teaching challenges. The TDF position provided fellows with the opportunity to gain professional experience, mentorship, and support in an area of teaching and learning (training and mentoring fellow teachers) that is typically less available to Harvard graduate students in section and lab teaching. During their orientation, TDFs practiced how to answer questions from new and returning TFs, TAs, and CAs about general teaching topics as well as FAS priorities like civil discourse, AI, and recentering academics. The fellows spent an entire day during orientation preparing to talk about grading with TFs/TAs/CAs, and Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh visited to discuss the grading reform. TDFs were then paired with their Bok staff co-facilitators to develop their presentation skills for topical workshops for returning TFs/TAs (e.g. Reading and Writing in the Age of AI, Teaching Controversial Topics, and Active Learning in Problem-Based and STEM Courses) and foundational trainings for new TFs/TAs and for CAs. Several TDFs noted that this orientation provided them with practical and useful pedagogical knowledge that not only prepared them for training their peers, but also made them more effective TFs in their own course assignments.

During late August and early September, TDFs alongside Bok Center staff co-facilitated 58 training sessions for new and returning TFs, TAs, and CAs. TDFs not only presented key concepts and led interactive activities, but also provided first-hand accounts and anecdotes during sessions, which helped attendees think about the practical applications of teaching principles in many different disciplines and situations. TDFs often facilitated discussions of scenarios, some drawn from TDFs’ own teaching experiences, that pushed attendees to consider the challenges that can emerge during teaching and to devise approaches to address those problems. Attendees responded very positively to the peer mentorship offered by TDFs during training sessions. In exit ticket feedback, attendees praised the useful advice that TDFs offered, and noted their gratitude for TDFs’ attention to attendees’ specific questions about teaching challenges. Given their wide range of backgrounds, TDFs were well placed to offer their unique perspectives on teaching topics that complemented and added to Bok staff members’ contributions.

As the fall semester continues, many TDFs have been approached by TFs and TAs for informal advice, which has allowed these fellows to continue to mentor their peers. TDFs will again co-facilitate training sessions for TFs, TAs, and CAs at the beginning of the Spring 2027 semester.