Mentoring Graduate Students in Teaching

Abstract

Research has consistently shown the high value of mentorship for graduate students in various areas—program satisfaction, professional self-image, confidence, productivity, and so on. However, specific templates of how to best mentor graduate students, especially in the vital area of teaching, are lacking. This article outlines the mentoring model called “From Conception to Co-instructor to Completion” (FCCIC). This five-step method provides a plan of action for faculty and graduate students who wish to co-develop a course in such a way that graduate student mentees are exposed to the entire teaching process with the supervision and assistance of a faculty mentor. This relationship moves beyond the traditional “professor/teaching assistant” hierarchy (the TA model) to create equally operational co-instructors. In this note, the FCCIC method is summarized and then illustrated through the development of a sociology course on happiness as an exemplar of how to better mentor graduate students in teaching.