Teaching in turbulent times
I was planning to end the year with my take on grading and assessment. It’s been so much in the news this fall, with Harvard’s grading report, too many As, not enough rigor! I’m so interested in what it means to do well, what grades mean, the different ways people think about them, and why I was so relieved that my son got a B in Algebra after struggling this fall. And now it’s finals season; many instructors and TAs are out there trying to get their grades in. But I was so shaken up by the events of the weekend, especially the shooting at Brown, which hit so close to home. And now so many faculty and staff have to close the semester on this horrible note.
As the Brown community was sheltering in place, I was reflecting on the events we’ve had to handle over the years. I remember sheltering in place in Cambridge and Somerville in 2013, during the manhunt after the Boston marathon bombing. Campus (and everything) was closed for a day and we couldn’t leave our homes. And then there was the 2016 election, and the pandemic. Remember how we thought we were going home for 2 weeks or so? Those of us in teaching and learning had to become experts on Zoom and teach instructors to teach on Zoom like it was no big deal while so many people were struggling. Then we came back to campus, which seemed like it should be easy, but wasn’t at all, and we had to develop guidance on teaching while masked. There has been a continued need for guidance on teaching through contentious elections and international conflicts, and our ongoing work to help instructors and students listen, speak, and learn productively across differences, which has always been central to teaching and learning. When you think about it, have we ever been teaching in a time that wasn’t turbulent?
As a teacher or leader there can be an instinct to feel that we should have something helpful to say about these hard events, or a way to fix them or make them ok. What should we say to our students? It is ok to give space to talk about it, or you may prefer not to talk about it. Depending on your field, it can be a relief and a productive distraction to focus on the course material. Like everything else, the context and the framing are important. We can’t make things ok that are not ok, and we have an important role to play being there, maintaining some stability for students, and keeping things running as best we can. If you're out there in a classroom or supporting students right now, thank you. Remember you are doing important work, even if you don’t have any answers.
I am always here if you want to connect or talk through anything you are working on. Take care of yourselves; I hope you all will be able to rest and recharge over winter break.
