Updates on Instructor Checkout Requirements
The goals of our instructor discussion sessions are for new trainees to meet community members and learn more about how a workshop is run, and how to prepare. We are fulfilling the community component with teaching demos, and more instructor training is happening online. Future instructors are meeting other members of the community through their trainings. Additionally, if instructors want to learn more about running a workshop, it may make more sense for them to do it right before they start preparing when they have questions.
We therefore evaluated whether to remove the Instructor Discussion Sessions from the checkout requirement for becoming a Carpentries instructor (see this blog post and vote summary). The motion to remove instructor discussion sessions as a requirement for completing the checkout procedure failed to gain a majority of cast votes. Due to the varied opinions, we began discussing further options.
We want to continue the discussion sessions to give instructors an opportunity to discuss their workshops and prepare, but requiring it for checkout has continued to present several issues. The Instructor Development Committee is working to create new opportunities for community engagement, and therefore proposed to relax the commitments of this committee regarding discussion sessions to give them the time and opportunity to plan.
An RFC Regarding Instructor Discussion Sessions resulted in the following decision:
- Anyone wishing to complete their Carpentries instructor training checkout before December 31, 2018 will complete the current requirements, which include attending an instructor discussion session.
- Anyone wishing to complete their Carpentries instructor training checkout beginning January 1, 2019 will do so with the revised requirements, i.e. anyone who is yet to complete their checkout when 2019 begins will then be required to fulfill whatever new requirements are decided on regarding discussion sessions.
There are two issues we’d like your input on regarding the proposed new requirement(s) that would replace discussion sessions:
Please respond to these issues by 9-December, and share with your networks. We value community input, and want to present the best option to achieve the goals of The Carpentries Instructor Training Checkout.