Great communicators, great communities

Lin Langley, Communications instructor (right), and Vanessa Simpson, Print Futures graduate.

When it comes to communications, building relationships is everything. Few people understand this better than Lin Langley, Communications instructor and Faculty Development Coordinator, who has had five couples go on to get married after meeting each other in her class.

Surprised? Not Print Futures grad Vanessa Simpson, a former student of Langley's.

"Lin has this knack for seeing through the barriers people throw up around themselves, so that they feel confident to show more of who they are," says Simpson, who underscores the many lasting friendships that began in Langley's course, Interpersonal Communications for the Writer's Workplace.

"I remember leaving her office one time and thinking, wow, she really gets me. She really understands who I am," adds Simpson. "There was real two-way communication in Lin's class. It felt like the students and the instructor had something to share and Lin was more like a guide in that process."

After completing her diploma (while working and juggling her responsibilities as a mother of two young children), Vanessa, who has skills as both a writer and a designer, was scooped by Douglas College to begin her career here as a Documentation and Publication Specialist.

"Learning to communicate well with others and building relationships are huge career assets," says Simpson. "I recently met up with a big group of Print Futures grads and everyone talked about how they use the skills and techniques that Lin taught us in their day-to-day lives and in their careers.

"I often think of Lin in my job," she adds. "Sometimes I'll leave a meeting and think, what role did I play in that meeting? I'm able to analyze the group dynamic and my role within it. Are we storming or norming? What went wrong with that interview, what went right? I have the tools to deconstruct those moments."

In her 15 years at Douglas, Langley has been instrumental in forging relationships with partners such as the Carnegie Institute and in supporting faculty to develop research into how their students learn best. She is currently teaching college instructors in her faculty development role and pursues her interest in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as part of a cross-college team studying student perceptions of the positive elements of learning at Douglas.

"I've been teaching for over 30 years and I never get bored of it," says Langley. "I really believe that the future of our planet hinges on the quality of what goes on in our classrooms. I understand the power of education to change lives. When people are really intensely involved in learning they are going to become somebody else. And when people are tuned into the power of their own learning they can positively influence the world around them."

Related Links

Print Futures: Professional Writing Program
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