TikTok for Tenure? Z Zerbe Utilizes New Media to Share Her Teaching Story

For the tenure process at Pierce College, faculty are asked to create an introduction and reflection that focuses on their teaching. Specifically, the tenure committee and the Board of Trustees want to know more about how faculty utilize the Inclusive Pedagogy Framework, and how they are committed to supporting the goals of an anti-racist educational space. The process asks faculty to be vulnerable, honest, and candid in terms of what they share and how they share it.

When exploring the optional modalities I noticed that “video or new media” was an option. And I decided that the best way to communicate myself, my teaching identity, and my racial learning journey was through a medium that I feel really allows for transparency and authenticity: TikTok.

I know what you are thinking. Really Z? TikTok? How is social media authentic or transparent? But hear me out! Below is a breakdown of my goals for my tenure packet, and how I decided to make TikTok videos as a part of this process.

Why TikTok?

I wanted a chance to be candid, vulnerable and concise in my video introduction and reflection. I feel like the platform and format where I see a lot of that type of content is on TikTok. Recently I have been using TikTok as a video blog to unpack some personal things in my life, like my current divorce and new move to the PNW.

When looking at the tenure packet it seemed that vulnerability, candor, and transparency were highly prioritized in the introduction and reflection sections of the materials. As a form of communication, I feel I excel at honesty and transparency when I can be playful and conversational in tone. It is one of my strengths in my classroom teaching, and I wanted an opportunity to share that in the tenure materials. 

When considering video as an approach, it was important to me to think about how I could create something that felt sincere and not overly polished. A highly scripted, edited, and produced video didn’t seem to fit my “vibe” or the tone I wanted to present to the board of trustees about who I am as a person, an educator, and an advocate for my black and brown students. 

I decided to instead format my content as TikTok videos because I wanted to demonstrate what I feel is most exciting about my educational philosophy (praxis and play) with my personality (current and cutting edge). The shorter format of the TikTok videos also allowed me to break down the content into chunkable pieces, which is something I am working on doing with my classroom content as well. And it forced me to be concise, which I think is important in terms of honest dialogue and communication. 

TikTok Tenure Videos

Check out my videos below, and follow me on TikTok for more fun (and at times really raw) video blogs and antics!