|
A Brief History of (The) Teaching For Success®
The idea for a special publication dedicated to High-Impact, Teaching came from a graduate course in program development that I completed at the University of Illinois.
I chose for this class a project to develop a training program to help prepare faculty to results teach. I was sure my faculty training and development idea was at least as good as sliced bread but my professor didn't share my optimism. So in the time honored way of irrepressible entrepreneurs, I quit the doctoral program and started a business, Pentronics Publishing.
This doctoral course took place in 1988. And out of that class came the idea for the Adjunct Mentor. It may have been the first publication dedicated to helping adjunct faculty with teaching improvement ideas.
The name was changed in 1992 after I received a call inquiring about the "Defunct Mentor." This was the last straw in a long line of calls from persons unable to get the name straight. So I gave in and renamed the publication Teaching For Success.
The motivation for publishing Teaching For Success® came from 12-years of full-time teaching, department chair administration, institutional budget, and strategic planning committees and experience with part-time instructor assignments.
During that time I worked with scores of part-time and adjunct faculty helping to bring them up to the level of teaching excellence set by the full-time department staff.
Dept Chair Position Made Need for Better Faculty Development
an Obvious Imperative
I found that without training in good teaching practices, most part-time and adjunct faculty tended to teach as they had been taught. Unimaginably, one part-timer even taught by asking each student in turn to read out loud a paragraph from the textbook. They could meet their classes, lecture, and test, but their results were mixed at best.
This instructor hired for his excellent content expertise simply had no idea of how to teach and how students learn. The students revolted. And I realized almost everyone could use help with developing their teaching skills.
After witnessing this instructor's horrible waste of students' time and effort, I decided that something needed to be done, and that "something" became first, the Adjunct Mentor and then, Teaching For Success®.
The entire purpose of this publication is to inform faculty in a clear, concise, and practical style what are the Critical Success Roles of good teaching and how to apply success principles and instructional strategies to improving their courses.
TFS acknowledges and respects the precious little time that most most part-time and adjunct faculty have to develop their teaching knowledge and skills. Therefore, any development efforts must be spot-on in delivering practical and immediately useful information.
Unique Blend of Practical and Theoretical
My aviation technology classroom experience coupled with earning an M.Ed in Vocational Technical Education and two years doctoral level course work in Training and Development provided me with a solid base in education and training theory and practice.
I feel qualified to create success materials not because I'm some super educational guru, but only because I've made so many mistakes and errors throughout the years that I know failure as well as success. And I've spent thousands of hours studying, discussing, thinking, and writing about better ways to help faculty improve teaching results.
Penny Shrawder a talented artist and my spouse and I are life-long learners, developers, teachers, diagnosticians, and entrepreneurs. All this means that we just can't seem to leave well-enough alone. Our life's career passion is the pursuit of answers to two questions:
- Why can't it be done better?
- What would it take to improve or recreate, or invent an activity, product, or service that represents a novel solution to pressing problems.
Results are our Passion
We are quite passionate about the continuing need to learn and develop practical skills to teach, inspire, and assist others to reach their life goals. Getting to results, making things happen, continuously improvising and improving: these have been our watchwords.
Higher education has always been the locus of our work life. We spent eight years of early married life serving the University of Alaska Anchorage. After several additional years attending the University of Illinois and living in Champaign, IL, we moved our business to South Lake Tahoe where it has been since 1994.
I began my career working as a full-time instructor teaching aviation technology at two- and four-year level of higher education colleges, and Penny worked as a staff member in various departments and was in part responsible for tracking and reporting on the entire budget of Anchorage Community College for various stake holders.
I taught at University of Illinois, Sacramento City College and the Anchorage Community College/University of Alaska Anchorage, where I assisted in putting together a world-class aviation technology program, writing curriculum, hiring faculty, and designing and equipping laboratory facilities. This program is still regarded as one of the best in the country.
I hold a Bachelor of Science from San Jose State University, an M.Ed in Vocational Education from the University of Illinois, and completed two addition years of graduate work in Training and Development at the University of Illinois.
These teaching and academic experiences gave Jack a thorough understanding of teaching technology, teaching for mastery, teaching to Federal, and state, and institutional curriculum requirements, working with employers, and working with part-time and adjunct faulty to maintain high standards of teaching excellence.
Working as publisher and editor of Teaching For Success has given Jack and a superb opportunity to further increase his knowledge of teaching and learning, personal success skills, electronic media, and informative and inspirational writing techniques and style.
At age 62, I feel that all of my learning, both formal and informal, and career work experiences creating and running Pentronics Publishing have come together to enable me to provide faculty with a unique set of tools they can use to achieve greater success in their endeavors.
The most important lesson I have learned with advancing experience is that pure knowledge of technique and facts alone is not enough for success; in addition, one must connect with the inner self, to link inner drive, passion, belief, and faith (referring to the general definition not a specific religious dogma) is crucial to achieving the highest levels of success.
Readers will find a balance of inner attitudes, directed meta thinking, mastery of techniques, and a flexible body of knowledge to be essential components of the "Teaching For Success" concept.
Supporting Relationships
I am a member of:
Credentials
Jack H. Shrawder, publisher
- Fourteen years full-time, two- and four-year college and university teaching experience
- Transitioned from the aviation industry to education and started teaching as an adjunct faculty.
- M Ed Vocational Education, University Illinois
- Two years doctorate level study in Training and Development.
- Twenty years of publishing, writing, study and mentoring experience in teaching improvement.
- Founded Pentronics Publishing in 1988 with the mission to help faculty learn how to improve their teaching and achieve learning outcomes more rapidly and easily.
For more information contact:
Jack H. Shrawder
Publisher, Teaching For Success
Pentronics Publishing
1270 Mt. Rainier Dr.,
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
800-757-1183
jack@pentronicspublishing.com
jack@teachingforsuccess.com
LinkedIn
FaceBook
Blog: teachingforsuccess.blogspot.com
***************************************************************
Penny A. Shrawder
Artist and Design Specialist
Penny Shrawder, is an award-winning fine-art artist, print and web designer. She adds her talents to Teaching For Success by creating a balanced, artistic and pleasing layouts for Teaching For Success periodical and E-Solutions Shop documents.
Her love and respect for humanity and the human form is evident in her sensual, balanced, and insightful artistic compositions. She paints gorgeously-layered and exquisitely-luminous figures.
Education
- Art History: University of Illinois
- Art: University of Illinois;, University of Anchorage, Alaska,
- Lake Tahoe Community College, California
- Workshop: Don Andrews, Watercolor
Articles: The Artist’s Magazine
- “The Motivating Factor,” by Penny Shrawder
- The Artist’s Magazine, November 2002
- “Great Art Moments,” by Penny Shrawder
For More Information Contact:
Penny A. Shrawder
Pentronics Publishing
1270 Mt. Rainier Dr.,
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
530-573-8964; 800-757-1183
Penny@pentronicspublishing.com
PennyShrawder.blogspot.com
PennyShrawder.com
TeachingForSuccess.com
|
