Tutorial Training Options for First-Contract TAs

All Teaching Assistants beginning their very first appointment at the University of Toronto must receive 4 hours of mandatory training in preparation for their teaching roles. The TATP is integrating tutorial training that aligns with the 4 tutorial categories into all training sessions for first-time TAs. If you are a TA new to teaching at the University of Toronto, here are your options for receiving tutorial-specific training:

  1. Check with your department/unit to see if an on-site training session for first-contract TAs is being offered in your department. Such training normally takes place either in the week right before classes start, or in the 2 – 3 weeks that follow the first day of class.
  2. If your department/unit is not running an on-site training session in your department, you can do one of three things:i. Attend one of the TATP’s “catch-all” First-time TA training workshops, offered as part of the TATP’s Job Training Days on all three campuses at the start of the Fall and Winter terms. Please check the TATP Job Training Days training web page for the dates and times. PLEASE NOTE: these workshops have a broad focus. They will touch on certain key components of tutorial training in the relevant 4 categories, but the tutorial training will not be comprehensive.ii. Attend one of the many Tutorial Training workshops the TATP will be offering at the start of the Fall and Winter terms. The TATP will be running workshops in each of the 4 categories – discussion-based teaching, skill development, review, and labs/practicals. The TATP will also offer “Adapting Teaching Techniques” (ATT) workshops, relevant for any discipline. These workshops will provide strategies for adapting your learning activities to suit the number of students in a tutorial. Check the Tutorial Training Workshop page for descriptions, dates and times.iii. Attend one of the many 2-hour pedagogical workshops the TATP will be offering throughout the 2018-19 academic year as part of its regular TATP Workshop Series. Several workshops will focus on topics that can count as tutorial training. Look for the Tutorial Training icons! Workshops that can be considered for paid tutorial training will be indicated on the website with the appropriate icon.