The Transformative Impact of Flipping the Script

By: Trinity Perkins & Elena Parshall

Last year, the Faculty Development Center hosted its first ever student-led teaching conference, “Flipping the Script.” With sixteen presentations, two plenaries, and over 100 attendees, the conference was a big success! The presentations and plenaries offered everyone an opportunity to grow their knowledge and expand their thinking about teaching and learning. Building on this success, the FDC will be repeating this conference on November 22, hoping to expand on what we learned last year and let more student voices be heard.

[Elena] As a student presenter, I felt like my voice was clearly heard by my peers and by faculty at the university. Last fall was my first semester at EMU. I transferred to EMU from a small university close to home. It was a big change and a little intimidating. I’m a member of the TRiO SSS group on campus and I was invited by Director Anthony Webster to present at this conference with one of my friends last year. I cautiously accepted, but quickly became comfortable expressing my ideas with people who I felt wanted to hear from me. That wasn’t something I expected: to feel so warm and welcomed within my first weeks of even being a student here. But I learned, through this conference, that this is what I could expect moving forward.

A conference like this is beyond impactful to the university as a whole. Being able to watch my peers advocate for themselves and many others is great in and of itself. But when you add open-minded faculty to the audience, it really becomes something special. The teachers were willing to be taught by the learners, the students. They listened to the ideas expressed, took notes, engaged with us; everything you could ask of an audience. Their willingness to be there, their willingness to allow students to alter their thinking, is pushing this university to a place where wants and needs are considered between faculty and students alike. At the end of the day, if there were no students or if there were no faculty, there would be no EMU. Both are needed. The space fostered at a conference like Flipping the Script is special. It allows the disconnect between students and faculty to close, opening the doors to closer bonds and more support on all fronts.

[Trinity] As a sophomore at the time, I was still very new to Eastern and what college had to offer. As an FDC student worker, I was able to see Flipping the Script through multiple perspectives as I was helping with the behind the scenes, seeing faculty and student reactions, but I was also able to participate as a student. I remember walking up to the students after their presentation and asking them how they thought it went. They stated that they never expected so many faculty to be willing to come listen to them talk, and ask questions on how they can learn and grow. Students shared with me that they felt comfortable and confident speaking in front of potentially intimidating professors. They were able to share their perspectives and actually be heard in the room as they were front and center, something they were not used to.

Faculty were the ones listening and asking questions; students (such as Elena) experienced having their own professors watching their presentations and enjoying them. This made a difference to them. This conference was meaningful for both the students and faculty. They were able to understand each other's perspectives in a room where students were able to feel like they could talk to the faculty and not be judged for it. The faculty willingly came to their presentation, making the students feel appreciated, but faculty didn’t just come to support students. They came to learn. I’ve worked at the FDC for two years; nothing I have seen here was as impactful as this day.

[Elena & Trinity] We as students encourage all faculty to attend this conference, for their sake, but also for the sake of their students. If we have learned anything at the FDC, it is that faculty learn not just from each other, but also from their students. Trinity was a participant in a plenary session on the multiple identities students might hold. She was able to hold the microphone in a room full of faculty members, lecturers, and administrators all listening to what she had to say. She was able to sit at a table full of instructors and answer their questions. How can they change their syllabus to reach all students? How can they approach teaching to address their unique students? This conference made it clear that faculty are able to learn from students (different things, but important things) just like students are able to learn from faculty. We were able to make a difference here at Eastern, breaking down walls that are made between faculty and students.

We both strongly believe that students should participate in Flipping the Script to gain a platform to voice their ideas on improving academia and to engage directly with educators who can implement, or take the steps to implement these ideas. This conference creates a space for meaningful dialogue between faculty and students, allowing students to influence educational practices and create a more responsive and inclusive learning environment.

Please join us for the Flipping the Script conference on November 22, 2024 in the Student Center. For more information (perhaps you can share it with your students?), click here. You may register to attend at this link.