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If you're teaching young people rn, you *need* to think about that thing none of us wants to think about: people dying from the coronavirus.
People close to people in your classroom.
Maybe people in your classroom.
Which probably means thinking about people close to you dying./1 https://twitter.com/EmArbelo_/status/1247545903482839042
People close to people in your classroom.
Maybe people in your classroom.
Which probably means thinking about people close to you dying./1 https://twitter.com/EmArbelo_/status/1247545903482839042
I have so much compassion for this Professor.
What happened here is horrifying--and I feel so SO much compassion for the TA and the students.
And also: this professor is in the same position as all the rest of us: we are just doing our best to survive, to get through the day./2
What happened here is horrifying--and I feel so SO much compassion for the TA and the students.
And also: this professor is in the same position as all the rest of us: we are just doing our best to survive, to get through the day./2
This tweet has stuck with me--this is my 3rd attempt at a thread, & what it comes down to is this:
Everything is terrible.
There are no good options.
BUT there are *bad* options. & walking into a virtual classroom without thinking about COVID-19 deaths is irresponsible./3
Everything is terrible.
There are no good options.
BUT there are *bad* options. & walking into a virtual classroom without thinking about COVID-19 deaths is irresponsible./3
& walking into a virtual classroom without being prepared to compassionately respond to a student/TA's disclosure of the loss of a loved one--or, for that matter, their own severe symptoms & fear--is irresponsible.
And also: this was definitely NOT part of the job description./4
And also: this was definitely NOT part of the job description./4
Just like everyone else who finds themselves in an intensified version of a job, a child/family care situation, a "quick family visit"—one we may have loved in its “regular life” form—professors didn’t sign up for this; and, tbh, we may be far less equipped than most... /5
...to have any level of responsibility or authority over a group of emerging adults during this time.
This is because full-time professors at major research universities--yes, even without tenure--*do* get away with a lower level of awareness of the needs of others./6
This is because full-time professors at major research universities--yes, even without tenure--*do* get away with a lower level of awareness of the needs of others./6
So much of the job of anyone in a lower status position--both the jobs for which we are paid, and the ones for which we are not--is emotional labor.
But high status? No so much. & along with the perceiption of intelligence that goes along with the job title.../7
But high status? No so much. & along with the perceiption of intelligence that goes along with the job title.../7
...Professors are able to get away with doing far far less, because of the status/perceived intelligence that goes along with the job title.
And while that may have seemed a blessing before, it now leaves Profs ill-equipped to be publicly HUMAN in the face a deep pain & fear./8
And while that may have seemed a blessing before, it now leaves Profs ill-equipped to be publicly HUMAN in the face a deep pain & fear./8
It's not our fault, but it is our responsibility to remedy this. And if we can't for any reason, on any day--it is our responsibility to remove ourselves from the classroom.
We urgently need to be talking about trauma-informed pedagogies--in ALL disciplines./9
We urgently need to be talking about trauma-informed pedagogies--in ALL disciplines./9
But a million other things are urgent now, too.
I've been deep inside academia for two decades--at four major research universities--so everything I'm writing comes from that experience and also most definitely applies to me, as well./10
I've been deep inside academia for two decades--at four major research universities--so everything I'm writing comes from that experience and also most definitely applies to me, as well./10
Professors are relatively sheltered. Many haven't really ventured outside academia, & to some degree think everyone else desires and functions like they do.
That's never true. For anyone.
So: consider yourself an amateur here./11
That's never true. For anyone.
So: consider yourself an amateur here./11
It's ok not to be an expert, not to know what to do.
But it's not ok to just try to brush off your lack of preparedness. Not this time.
It's bad enough they're being expected to carry on as usual (maybe not by you, but by some of their other profs). Don't make things worse.
/12
But it's not ok to just try to brush off your lack of preparedness. Not this time.
It's bad enough they're being expected to carry on as usual (maybe not by you, but by some of their other profs). Don't make things worse.
/12
Yes: Profs who are women, nonbinary, trans, Black, brown, first generation, queer, etc, may be better equipped to show up with emotional awareness in our classrooms during this crisis. But that doesn't mean we can skip the work of making sure we're ready for this conversation./13
But, what is we are not?
What if we're not ready to talk about death from COVID-19 in class at all--or maybe even just that particular day?
What if someone *we* love has died, or is in the ICU, and all we want to do is be distracted?
Answer: do not teach./14
What if we're not ready to talk about death from COVID-19 in class at all--or maybe even just that particular day?
What if someone *we* love has died, or is in the ICU, and all we want to do is be distracted?
Answer: do not teach./14
Remember:
Burying yourself is your studies may have helped you cope with trauma in the past and present--and it may help some of your students now, too--but I guarantee you it will be the opposite of what many need right now./15
Burying yourself is your studies may have helped you cope with trauma in the past and present--and it may help some of your students now, too--but I guarantee you it will be the opposite of what many need right now./15
Seriously:
Don't teach if you are not up for facing the horrifying reality of what is going on, with your students. Y
ou don't have to bring it, though you might choose to.
But for the love of god do not pretend it isn't happening./16
Don't teach if you are not up for facing the horrifying reality of what is going on, with your students. Y
ou don't have to bring it, though you might choose to.
But for the love of god do not pretend it isn't happening./16
How do we "not teach," though--it's our job, right?
Consider:
-you'd cancel class if you were in the hospital, or at a conference, right? Well, check-in with your own emotional coping before class--often--and if you notice you're not able to be present emotionally, CANCEL./17
Consider:
-you'd cancel class if you were in the hospital, or at a conference, right? Well, check-in with your own emotional coping before class--often--and if you notice you're not able to be present emotionally, CANCEL./17
-is there a policy that says you can't cancel classes? Ask: if the highly contingent laborers at Amazon warehouses are striking; if doctors are being fired for speaking to the media about conditions at their hospitals, CAN YOU REALLY NOT BREAK THIS POLICY? The world's on fire./18
-what if cancelling isn't enough, because you know that you don't have the capacity right now to develop the skills to be emotionally present with your students while you're increasingly joined by the ghosts of the people they've lost to COVID-19?/19
-what if your own parent or sibling or best friend dies? Or you just crack? Do what you feel is best for you--& what you think does less harm to your students. If you're comfortable sharing your own loss and challenges and being emotionally vulnerable with your students, do it/20
If that kind of emotional vulnerability feels wrong, don't do it!! This is *not* the time to ask something so challenging of yourself. You can step away from teaching. You can post the final paper instructions & disappear for a couple weeks. No, it's not ideal, but nothing is./21
No matter what: DON'T PRETEND THE DYING ISN'T HAPPENING.
Think about it now. Make a plan now.
I know: it all sounds impossible. There are no good choices. But what do you value most: your humanity? your students' wellbeing? your institutions' finances?
Yeah, didn't think so./end
Think about it now. Make a plan now.
I know: it all sounds impossible. There are no good choices. But what do you value most: your humanity? your students' wellbeing? your institutions' finances?
Yeah, didn't think so./end
