COVID-19: Compassion in Our Classroom During Uncertain Times
The COVID-19 pandemic raises important concerns about teaching in times of disruption and uncertainty. While many of us are preparing to reformat our courses in emergency response mode, it’s important to also remember the human imperative of our vocation.
Right now there is a cognitive demand being asked of all of us. Whether stressed by preparing to teach remotely, worried about housing or food insecurity, concerned about vulnerable family members, concerned about immuno-compromised and high-risk individuals--et cetera, many of us have a lot more of the “outside world” impacting our daily work.
And that’s okay.
One important thing we can all do right now is to neither ignore what is happening, nor misrepresent the impact as something that can be singularly defined. We are all impacted differently, and opening up as to how this is impacting you, personally, while inviting students to do the same, is a way to humanize this experience. “Students, I’ve never taught a class online before, so please be patient with me as I will be patient with you,” is a great way to start, for example.
Most importantly, we need to name those in our population who are most vulnerable. While those who are more susceptible to the disease of COVID-19 often come to mind, we must not forget the disease of racism. Our Asian-born and Asian-American students, friends, and colleagues need us to stand up for them. Make a statement against xenophobia, microaggressions, and racism as a pre-emptive move. Let your students (and colleagues) know ahead of time that it will not be tolerated.
As we continue planning, this article by Karen Gross has a number of helpful strategies for thinking about COVID-19’s psychological toll. She concludes by suggesting ways to communicate openly with our students about what is happening:
“Name it (recognize the trauma),
Tame it (conduct activities/strategies that deal with the psychological impact of trauma and its symptomology including with respect to the autonomic nervous system in the short term and other symptomology in the longer term) and
Frame it (identify the importance of trauma and its symptomology to moving forward and enabling learning, psychosocial wellness and physical health)”
Doing nothing is doing something—it is ignoring the very real challenges that we are collectively experiencing. Communicating your compassion is the best way to humanize your classroom—whether online, or cancelled, or pending—so that your students feel encouraged during this uncertain time.