Teaching as a PhD student
Bangor University’s School of Psychology enrols its PhD students onto a Teaching Psychology in Higher Education training programme, which can result in an application for Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. This means that I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to gain teaching experience on a variety of modules alongside my PhD.
This training programme is made up of two year-long teaching placements, as well a series of workshops, observations, and development. During my first placement I worked as a Graduate Instructor (GI) on a core 1st-year undergraduate module that aims to provide students with the skills necessary for effective communication in science. My second placement was also on a core 1st-year module, but this time a research methods and statistics module. Over the past few years, I have also taken on an additional voluntary module placement and a series of marking support.
Before I started my placements I did some searching about teaching as a PhD student and couldn’t find anything that answered my questions, so now I’ve had some more experience, I thought it would be fun to finally write up a blog post of advice.
1. The finished product?
When I first started, I was worried that I wouldn’t be good enough to teach — What if I said something stupid? What if I didn’t know the answer to a student’s question? Having teaching mentors (an experienced member of the teaching team) to talk to and ask questions really helped with this. First of all, everyone says daft things at times in their life, but remember that students are humans too, and will often just have a laugh with you and then move on. It’s also okay to say that you don’t know the answer! Some of my best teaching experiences have been when I haven’t known the answer to a question, so we’ve looked the answer up together and both learnt something new. Being nervous is also okay, but don’t let it put you off or convince you that you’re not good enough. You are good enough.
2. Time commitment
Teaching or additional marking can be a big time commitment, so make sure you have the time before you say yes. As you’re doing a PhD, you’re likely to already have a pretty hectic schedule, so try to not overload yourself. By saying yes, you’re making a commitment to students, the module organiser, and others, that you’ll be able to do the work in the right time frame. If it turns out that you’ve overstretched yourself or if an emergency comes up, make sure you inform the right people as soon as possible so cover can be found.
3. Consent from supervisor
If you’re going to do any teaching or marking, it’s always worth talking to your supervisor to make sure they understand the workload you’ll be taking on. I’ve been lucky that my supervisor is supportive of me gaining teaching experience, however some supervisors may not be happy if they think too much time is being taken from your PhD. Remember that you’re primarily here to do a PhD, any teaching experience is just a bonus. On the other hand, time management is an essential skill, and teaching alongside your PhD will certainly give you a chance to develop this!
4. Linking back to what you know
Everyone has their own research and teaching interests, and unfortunately, these may not always match up exactly with your teaching duties. However, there are always ways to link in your own interests with what you’re teaching — for example, when teaching research methods, I’d tell my students about my PhD research and how I’d have to apply the things we’d be discussing in class. This meant I was able to talk about something I had a good level of knowledge on, and the students also got to see how to apply what they were learning to a real research situation.
5. Make the most of it!
I think it’s really important to make the most of any teaching experiences you can get. I’ve tried to be proactive and ask to design a seminar or to give a guest-lecture, and I’ve found that teaching staff are always willing to listen to any ideas you’ve got. Sometimes things can’t be changed for one reason or another, but maybe you can come to a compromise or another idea. You never know until you ask!
I feel like I’ve learnt a lot from my teaching experiences, and I’d highly recommend it to any PhD student that may be debating getting involved with teaching. I’ve learnt about how different modules work, about varying types of assessment and feedback, and perhaps more importantly, become a lot more confident in my own abilities. I’ve also had fun, which is something I’d never have thought at the start of my placements!
Note: This blog post was originally published in 2019. I have now finished my PhD and achieved FHEA status for my teaching.