Houston educators return as students at UH's annual Common Ground Institute

More than 30 Houston-area K-12 educators are returning to the classroom this summer, not as teachers but as students. The University of Houston Honors College and Inprint are providing this opportunity through the annual Common Ground Teachers Institute, now in its 35th year.

The institute will take place from July 22 to 26 on the UH campus. Honors College professors and special guests will lead interactive sessions exploring various literary themes. These sessions, part lecture and part creative workshop, aim to inspire and engage participants. By the end of the week, attending teachers will gain new insights to share with their students.

“Teaching is very hard work,” said Max Rayneard, Common Ground’s coordinator and Honors College Associate Director of Creative Work. “It is easy for teachers to lose touch with the passions that brought them to the profession in the first place. The Common Ground Teachers Institute is dedicated to the simple principle that Houston educators are powerful and energizing resources for each other.”

Rayneard will lead a session titled “Scandalous Plays,” examining how public scandals shape history and public opinion through works like Sophocles’ “Oedipus Tyrannus” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” Another session, led by Honors College faculty member Marina Trninic, will explore concepts of "home" through texts such as Homer’s “Odyssey” and Toni Morrison’s “Home.”

Participants will engage in discussions and develop prose and poetry with support from institute faculty.

“Teachers will walk away from Common Ground feeling affirmed and part of a supportive community,” Rayneard said. “They should feel reenergized, reinvigorated, and inspired.”

Honors College Dean Heidi Appel emphasized the importance of professional development for teachers.

“There is so little time for their own professional development during the school year,” Appel said. “The institute provides a focused week of reading, thinking, and talking about ways that literature expands our understanding of the world and how to share this with their students.”

Common Ground is free for attendees, with books funded by past grants from the McGovern Foundation. Educators earn 30 Texas Education Agency-approved Continuing Professional Education hours for participating.

“The Honors College is proud to host the Common Ground Teachers Institute because we place high value on developing critical reading, thinking, and communication skills in our own students who come from all majors on campus,” Appel said. “To help foster teaching these skills in high school is a natural extension of our mission.”

Rayneard attributes Common Ground's success to its sense of inclusion. Teachers actively participate in sessions, contributing ideas and developing creative works.

“They are truly the stars of the show during Common Ground,” Rayneard added. “The Institute would be nothing without its most valuable resources: the teachers themselves.”

One teacher noted how respected she felt at last year’s institute after attending her first session.

“It is important to remember the professional expertise and years-long experience teachers bring to the conversation," Rayneard said. "The secret of Common Ground’s long-term success is that it has never forgotten that fact.”