Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (TLI), UT Libraries, and the Department of Psychology invite anyone from UT to participate in the Lifelong Learning Book Club this Spring 2025 semester.
This book club aims to promote a community of support around lifelong learning for teachers and students a like. So faculty, staff, and students are all welcome!
This upcoming Spring semester, we will be reading
The Present Professor : Authenticity and Transformational Teaching
By Elizabeth Norell
About this book: "It’s hard to learn when you’re under stress, and a lot harder when your teacher is struggling with stress, too. In a world where stress is unavoidable—where political turmoil, pandemic fallout, and personal challenges touch everyone—this timely book offers much-needed guidance for cutting through the emotional static that can hold teachers back. A specialist in pedagogical strategies with extensive classroom experience, Elizabeth A. Norell explains how an educator’s presence, or authenticity, can be critical to creating transformational spaces for students. And presence, she argues, means uncovering and understanding one’s own internal struggles and buried insecurities—stresses often left unconfronted in an academic culture that values knowing over feeling. Presenting the research on how and why such inner work unlocks transformational learning, The Present Professor equips educators with the tools for crafting a more authentic presence in their teaching work.
At a time of crisis in higher education, as teachers struggle to find new ways to relate to, think about, and instruct students, this book holds a key. Implementing more inclusive pedagogies, Norell suggests, requires sorting out our own identities. In short, if we want to create spaces where students have the confidence, comfort, and psychological safety to learn and grow, we have to create spaces where we do, too. The Present Professor is dedicated to that proposition, and to helping educators build that transformational space." (The University of Oklahoma Press)
Important note: Dr. Norell will be the keynote speaker at the 2025 Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference hosted by TLI on March 26th, 2025. This is a great opportunity to become familiar with her work! She may also attend one of the book club sessions!
You can learn more about the conference and registration at this link.
The e-book is available online through the UT Libraries’ catalog, linked below.
The Present Professor by ISBN: 9780806194684Publication Date: 2024-12-03It's hard to learn when you're under stress, and a lot harder when your teacher is struggling with stress, too. In a world where stress is unavoidable--where political turmoil, pandemic fallout, and personal challenges touch everyone--this timely book offers much-needed guidance for cutting through the emotional static that can hold teachers back. A specialist in pedagogical strategies with extensive classroom experience, Elizabeth A. Norell explains how an educator's presence, or authenticity, can be critical to creating transformational spaces for students. And presence, she argues, means uncovering and understanding one's own internal struggles and buried insecurities--stresses often left unconfronted in an academic culture that values knowing over feeling. Presenting the research on how and why such inner work unlocks transformational learning, The Present Professor equips educators with the tools for crafting a more authentic presence in their teaching work. At a time of crisis in higher education, as teachers struggle to find new ways to relate to, think about, and instruct students, this book holds a key. Implementing more inclusive pedagogies, Norell suggests, requires sorting out our own identities. In short, if we want to create spaces where students have the confidence, comfort, and psychological safety to learn and grow, we have to create spaces where we do, too. The Present Professor is dedicated to that proposition, and to helping educators build that transformational space.
Additional Resources in UTK Library
Meeting Information & Registration
The book club meetings will be held virtually via Zoom! We will be discussing all aspects of the book, so each session will be different.
You don't have to read the book to attend! This is just a group of people interested in lifelong learning and supporting students and new approaches to teaching!
Meeting dates and times:
- Thurs, Feb 13th @ 12pm via Zoom
- (chp 1-4)
- Thurs, March 13th @ 12pm via Zoom
- (chp 5-6)
- Thurs, April 10th @ 12pm via Zoom
- (chp 7-9, wrap-up)