Compassion and empathy
For my social work students and fellow educators (as well as myself), I think coming from a place of compassion, empathy and authenticity is helpful in addressing mental wellness. This starts with modeling in the classroom and beyond- when I need a break, am I able to be authentic and honest about this? Communicate this to my students and coworkers/colleagues? Do I have support from administration at my university to take a "mental health day" or a day for wellness? Can I also do this to support my students?
I think changes institutionally and through policy to support the mental health of our students and faculty/staff/librarians on campus is imperative in addressing our overall wellness. We need to move away from the rigidity around what we expect in terms of how students show up and the time/space they need to balance their life and scholarly expectations. Some tangible changes I've made: week long due dates (and extensions as requested through communications), flexibility in attendance including mental health days, more podcasts/videos instead of readings to name a few.
I'm trying my best in the classroom to implement strategies to support our students and to model wellness and self-care, but do feel that the administration and policy also needs to be modified to support these efforts for faculty/staff/librarians.
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Comments (1)
Hi Taylor:
Thanks for joining over conversation and adding your thoughts.
What sort of differences do you see in your students thanks to your less rigid approach to teaching? Have you had any push-back from administrators?
Do you think it's different for you because you're in higher ed -- grammar and high school teachers are under so much pressure to help their students recoup the learning losses of the pandemic. Do you have any thoughts or advice for them on adopting a more lenient approach to teaching?