Compassionate Pedagogy: Building Relationship

As our time teaching during the crisis phase of COVID-19 levels off, many of us are taking a breath, just glad to have made it through this past semester.  Prior to the pandemic, many of us were planning on taking time this summer to do what we enjoy - time for travel, outdoor moments, sleep, reading, and of course often writing. As the summer progressed we would then prepare for our fall courses. I'm sorry to share - and excited to say - that this summer will be disrupted just as your spring semester was.
My apologies come from the grief we all feel regarding things lost. And I strongly encourage you to find ways to refuel yourself during the summer, especially if you are not teaching. Now my candor - if you want to be a successful instructor with excellence in your online classes, you will have to begin preparing now. Many of your universities and schools are likely building committees to help you prepare for the fall. But if you keep reading this blog, you will have a professional leg up.  You will be excited for fall, looking at the challenges it poses as creative opportunities to reinvent yourself as an instructor. And you will have the skills and the tools to do this with a clear head - not one that is responding to a crisis.  Where does this all being?

It all beings with compassion.

There is a movement in educational pedagogy towards compassion. Search social media and you will see what I mean. For example, on Twitter I searched using the hashtag #compassionatepedagogy and found some fascinating results. Some focus on self compassion towards instructors, others focus on understanding the need to decolonize the academy. But here, our focus when utilizing a compassionate pedagogy model has two branches; kindness and flexibility. How do you use these branches from the tree of compassionate pedagogy as you consider your fall classes? Let's get to it.

Kindness: Growing Relationships with Students

When we are in relationship with others, an environment that unleashes the vulnerability needed to learn can flourish. This kind of environment is where we learn to separate what we know from what we need to know or learn. It is the environment in which true knowledge and discernment can occur. Many colleagues think this happens most effectively in the face to face classroom and there is no doubt that it certainly does. But the myth, and I'd even go so far as to say bias, is that this cannot happen as effectively in an online learning environment.  My experience, and that of others, demonstrates this simply is not true. 

When I first came to online teaching I did not know how to do this. In fact, I thought all I had to do was put my content into a learning management system, record a few lectures and the learning outcomes would be met by my highly motivated and deeply talented students. Yeah, well, it is not as simple as that.  Remember the kindness concept of compassionate pedagogy? It depends on how effectively you build relationships in your online learning community.  This phrase - online learning community - is deliberately chosen to remind all members of the learning community that we are all in this together, and while a professor is the leader of the community, we are all members of the community and play different roles in meeting our goals and outcomes. 

How to begin setting up the online learning environment to meet the goals you have for your students? Build relationship. 

Specific Relationship Building Steps

I really struggled during my first semester teaching online. What was even more challenging was that I found very few resources or supports to help me improve. As a social worker I was fortunate enough to attend the Social Work Distance Education Conference and to date I can confidently say that it is the most effective conference focused on online learning I have attended. I attended a session in my first year that referenced Aaron Johnson's small but mighty book titled, "Excellent Online Teaching". This became my roadmap to building relationships with my students and learning communities.  My first step?  Sing it with me!  "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you......"

Student Questionnaire 

My first step is to send out a link with a getting to know you questionnaire. Some questions just focus on things you probably do in a face to face course introduction: what brought students to the program, the university, and their chosen field of study. Others are deliberately focused on connection with students such as what their talents are and if I needed help with something what would their best talent or skill be? Many share their organization skills, their ability to build relationships, or even their baking skills. I learn more about the students when they share a book or movie they think everyone should read or what they do to practice self care. 

The other questions help me understand what position the student is in to effectively participate in online learning. For example, I ask the students if they have regular access to wifi and inquire as to their access to film streaming sites such as Netflix in order to determine if have access to some technology we might use in the class. Then, the secret sauce in this process is applied.  

It's the individual email to each student. 

Yes, you read that right. Each student in every online class I teach receives a personal email from me after they complete the survey.  Here's an example of my response to a student's questionnaire: 

Hello Student, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to complete our online questionnaire. I'd love to know more about the ways you are creative! I wish I knew how to knit.  It sounds like you sure have a talent for it.

I think having a two year old and being in graduate school while working is a big deal!  You let me know if there is anything I can help you with during our time together in this class. My goal is the same as yours - success! I am here to support you as we work together in our learning community. I have put your book recommendation on my reading list and look forward to reading it. I appreciate  your completing this questionnaire and look forward to seeing all that you add to our learning community this term. 

Warmly, 

Professor Thompson  

Student Introductions 

My second step in the relationship building process of compassionate pedagogy is to have students introduce themselves to each other.  I do this via discussion board whether my class is a synchronous or asynchronous class. Why? It's effective and easily referenced. It also allows for those with different abilities or needs to effectively introduce themselves to the learning community. Many colleagues may consider using video for introductions; my concern here is what happens when you have a student who is deaf or hard of hearing? How do you caption 30 students' introductory videos? Finally, students who normally don't speak up in a face to face class often have a great deal to say in discussion questions and have shared their appreciation for the question as they find they allow them to reflect and respond without feeling put on the spot. 

My student introduction activity was originally developed by my colleague Dr. David Aron in the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University. It captures many faucets of who the student is without making them feel terribly vulnerable.  It's called the "Slice of Life Interview"

Community Building: Slice of Life Interview

When we work together it's a good idea to get to know each other.

Think of this assignment as you would a first day of class assignment when each student introduces themselves to each other - only better! Our focus will be to get to know each other and to build our framework for working together as a learning community.

In all of our discussions keep in mind that tone can be difficult to interpret online so be extra careful to write your responses in a respectful tone and follow our community learning agreements,

Slice of Life Interview

Tell us about something that you just can't live without.

What are three trends that excite you?

How do you bring your ideas to life?

What inspires you?

How did you come to choose social work as your profession?

What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?

What is one book that you recommend your classmates should read, and why?

What inspired you to take this course?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

If you could have dinner with one leader, social worker or innovator, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

What is your most satisfying accomplishment?

Tell us about a time when something unexpectedly delightful happened... like something turned out better then you planned, or you received unexpected praise, or a reward greater than you anticipated.

As the course instructor you must respond to each student's introduction so that the students see your presence in the course

These two components of compassionate pedagogy I've shared here allow relationships to build and ensure that your presence is felt by every student in your learning community.  They reinforce your willingness support your students and that you are fully interested in them as whole people and not just participants in a course.  Stay tuned for the next post that will give you additional skills you need to build relationship with your learning community.