Humanizing the Classroom in the Face of a Dehumanizing Pandemic

Abstract

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to rapidly translate our face-to-face interactions to remote, often computer-mediated ones. Many of us struggled to adapt since many instructors have built careers on in-person relationships. How would we maintain the humanity of an emergency remote classroom? How would we support our students’ growth when a rapid venue change was demanded? Our small, liberal arts college, like so many others, took up this challenge. In this chapter, we attempt to answer these questions using our reflections and student perceptions of successful and unsuccessful experiences. Following the switch to remote learning, we scrambled to develop and gain Institutional Review Board’s approval for a protocol which surveyed a rolling sample of our student population daily. The brief window of opportunity prevented piloting the protocol which was based primarily upon our team’s collective knowledge and experience as scholars and educators. The following fall, we followed up with a survey (aligned with the prior survey) and focus groups. We found that empathy within the classroom in this time of stress made all the difference. We relate what we’ve learned with respect to compassionate communications, course design, and adaptation. In each section, we offer a set of specific recommendations.

Citation

Modell, M.G., Fahey, J.T., Konheim-Kalkstein, Y.L., Wakeman, R. and Mazzurco, E. (2023), "Humanizing the Classroom in the Face of a Dehumanizing Pandemic", Sengupta, E. (Ed.) Pandemic Pedagogy: Preparedness in Uncertain Times (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 49), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120230000049005