An Interview with Centennial College Teacher Rocky Salera
Introduce yourself and the courses you teach. What, in your opinion, is the best thing about being a teacher at Centennial College?
My name is Rocky Salera. I’ve been teaching Centennial College for over 10 years. My core focus includes all business related courses (Economics, Marketing, Business Law etc…) While there are numerous things that I enjoy about the College, the Team spirit that I share with my teacher colleagues stands out. Given the small staff size, we have the ability to explore opportunities for cross-curricular synergies and inevitably end up with quality teaching.
What differentiates the college from other colleges/CEGEPs in Quebec in terms of the approach and the educational frameworks that we use at Centennial?
The size of our student population is probably one of our main assets. Smaller classes mean that we have a more in-depth knowledge of each one of our students and their relative requirements. We can therefore customize our approach, within reason, when coaching students or addressing any & all issues that come up.
Describe a typical classroom experience or a typical day at Centennial College?
When the class content permits, I’m very fond of using timely and relevant topics to apply theory seen in class. Brexit, employment levels, tariffs, social media in advertising and endless other examples, allow me to apply theory to real life situations. Students respond very well to this approach as it enables them to go one step further and better grasp theoretical concepts.
What is C-Space and what are the advantages of having this in college?
CSpace is a one hour/week period of time where students can conduct a variety of assignments in a supervised context. For example, we can use CSpace for a team activity solving a case study or preparing a team document for an up-coming debate in Business Law. CSpace can also be used as a one hour prep session for a quiz or in-class assignment with the added benefit of teacher coaching.
What is the culture like at Centennial College?
While this might sound cliché, the number of students and faculty size can be compared to one large family. There is highly positive interaction between teachers and that, inevitably, reflects on the quality of teaching and the synergy of the various topics we teach.
Tell me about one of your favorite teaching memories/story?
I recall the first time I added term papers to my marketing class. Now in most cases, students are accustomed to working on an assignment that is typically due in a week or two. In this particular case, their assignment was handed out at start of term with a delivery date at end of term – clearly placing them outside their comfort zone. Now these are year three students and would likely face this type of assignment in their next academic step, namely university.
While student progress is closely monitored during the term, I remember being highly impressed by the final marketing document and PowerPoint presentation. Great accomplishment for the students, very rewarding for the teacher!