Resources and Plans for the Academic Year

I finally had the time to put pieces in place so today you get a two resource kind of a day from me. First this blog which will describe what I have planned for the semester, and then in a few hours my first podcast episode of season four of Accessagogy will drop because I still need to do final edits on the transcript. This blog post will be very long [1680 words], because I have a lot to lay out, but it is organized by headers so you can skip to where you want to read.

Blog Post and Accessagogy Schedule and Resources

This year I decided to try to do blog posts every week and then Accessagogy episodes every other week. I have a bit more flexibility in my after work schedule right now (more on that in the next section) so this is why I am attempting it. I will see how this works as the semester goes on and I may modify back to the alternate weeks type thing I was doing last academic year, but I feel that there is so much going on in academic space right now that a weekly blog would be important to address some issues that connect to inclusion and accessibility in pedagogy, and overall teaching and learning discourse.

With that in mind I am also starting a new section of my blog every week called "Change the Narrative Resources." What these will be will be links to podcast episodes or videos or websites where something that is being said that is needed to be said and to counter the sameness of the narrative we tend to see in teaching and learning space at the moment. Socio-political forces are creating a whole bunch of echo chambers and it is my hope with the Change the Narrative Resources that there is exposure to new ideas and thoughts that may be helpful in the context of your discussions and course design. It may be only one or two things a week, but I will try to find the other side that is so needed right now. One of the issues is finding resources that are accessible, because very few folk are creating transcripts for podcasts anymore because they assume that the podcast app will do transcripts for them. So I will try my best to find things that could be readily accessible. So here are the first two:

Change the Narrative Resources

Academy of Ideas. (June 25, 2025). Why are People so Obedient?  [12:45 minute video] 

CBC Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmood. (September 1, 2025). What our shrinking attention span means for art and entertainment. [24 minute podcast episode] 

Note our national broadcaster is incredibly bad at accessibility. They only prioritize transcripts for a handful of shows, mostly the national reach shows. So if you are in an email or letter writing mood they would benefit from a reminder of the need for accessibility.

Introducing the Canadian Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Developers Network (CEICDN)

As I alluded to above I have a bit more slack in my after work schedule this term. One of the reasons for that is after teaching close to 10 years at George Brown teaching different composition and professional communication courses, this term they have no classes for me. Cutbacks mean that sessionals (adjuncts) like myself as well as full-time faculty in various departments have lost their jobs. Sessionals are a group who are rarely measured with accuracy so when you see those nice charts and graphs about layoffs at Canadian colleges and universities, I also you want you to remember that the folk that are not in those charts and graphs are the sessionals who have been working as sessionals for a very long time like me who has been doing sessional work for over 15 years. 

Something that I have been thinking a lot about over the summer as I watched so many educational developers, instructional designers, and curriculum developers lose their jobs in Canada is how there was not the kind of groundswell needed to support folk who were in these kinds of positions to find others and also support them in finding new positions. As I have mentioned previously in different places, part of that reason is because the associations that support this kind of work in Canada are supported by the very folk who have lost their jobs and also are very provincially segregated. As well there tends to be a drowning out of Canadian voices when it comes to teaching and learning in ed dev space because there are so many United States based folk and larger associations that are on social medias. And I wanted to do something about this gap. Both in promoting the value space that ed devs support but also what is different and unique about Canadian space. 

What I have come up with is what I am calling the Canadian Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Developer Network which convienently acronymed to seem to have Canadian in it at the end as CEICDN. I purposefully called it a network, and not an association, or a community, because associations tend to have fees and this is free, and communities need to be built and not declared. Networks tend to morph and change over time, they move in different directions, and this is what I see this space as.

I don't plan on this network being a long term thing, in fact I hope it isn't because I want this devaluing of educational developer, instructional designer, and curriculum developer work that is happening in teaching and learning spaces across Canadian institutions to stop. What this network space will be will be is a connection space for folk looking for people who are in this field, a space for us to talk about what is happening to Ed Dev, ID, and Curr Dev in institutions in Canada, a space where folk can share job postings of interest, share resources of interest, a space where folk can support each other to look at application materials, and maybe a space where like-minded folk can find others to publish with and help add to CVs or portfolios of work. I am certainly open to other things that members may need to add to the space, but I want it to be focused on ED, ID, and Curr Dev in Canada. 

This is a Canadian space because context is a thing as we know in the work that we do, and what is happening in Canada is different than what is happening in the United States or elsewhere, though it is certainly informed by similar socio-political voices and choices. I have set up a sign-up form here to ask for a bit of info and to get folk signed up on the Discord I created. For now I want to prioritize the folk who may be out of work and actively looking, but I will be looking for folk who have work at the moment who are willing (and can) put in some time to support mentoring others for free because I feel strongly that mentoring for money is a different kind of vibe that is not part of the ethos I am trying to promote by holding and creating this space. I am sure it will take a few weeks to get all the moving parts in order. 

For those of you who maybe have been sent this blog post or information from a peer and have never met me or my work before and are getting the it's a trap feels because I keep emphasizing the free thing let me give you a bit of context. I work as an educational developer focusing on accessibility and inclusion at a university in Canada. I have worked in many universities and colleges in Ontario as an Ed Dev, an ID, and a Curr Dev. I care deeply about accessibility and having folk remember that disabled students, faculty, and staff exist. Everything that I do, from this blog (which I have done since 2009!), my podcast that I started in 2023, and all the other resources I put out into the world, I do because I want education to be a more inclusive and less gatekept space. I do this because I know that I have gained a certain amount of time and resource privilege over the years and I want to give back. I do this because the folk who don't have money to put towards programs and supports are often marginalized and multi-marginalized folk, which is why our academic spaces continue to look the way that they do. I am a first-generation student. I have mentored many graduate students and staff peers over the years to support them in their educational and career journeys because academe does not hard-wire mentorship and support into the system. In fact academe is all about competition and ladder climbing. I actively try to dismantle this kind of thing by putting people in contact with other people because I have been lucky enough to get to know a lot of folk in different spaces, at different institutions, and in different countries in my career. I am doing this because I see people having a hard time finding connections and seeing a lack of capacity to support connection space that is Canadian focused, on the Canadian job market. I believe in mentorship and holistic relationship building. If you still are not sure and have any questions you can feel free to put them in the form at the end and I will be happy to answer them. 

Conclusion

Okay this post is already too long but I hope this gives you an idea of what I have in store for this year. So I guess thanks to GBC for not hiring me this term so I have time to do this work, lol. Let's see how this all works and I look forward to chatting with you in the months to come. Like I said if you have any questions at all, please reach out!