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The concept of resilient teaching has come to the forefront in the 2-plus years since the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly and radically altered the landscape of higher education. As faculty, students, and administrators devise strategies to cope with the myriad changes brought about by the pandemic, questions are ubiquitous about how to best support students and colleagues; how to adapt to changes in perceptions, practices, and expectations regarding teaching and learning; and how to avoid burnout.<\/p>\n
What is resilience? Resilience, in the physical sciences<\/a>, refers to \u201cthe capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress.\u201d Resilience, in a psychological sense,<\/a> is \u201cthe process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.\u201d And a classic definition of ecological resilience<\/a> states, \u201cResilience is the capacity of complex systems of people and nature to withstand disturbance without shifting into an alternate regime, or a different type of system organized around different processes and structures.\u201d<\/p>\n How about resilience in teaching? In the early months of the pandemic, Rebecca Quintana and James DeVaney of the University of Michigan Center for Academic Innovation posited an emergent definition of resilient teaching<\/a>:<\/p>\n The ability to facilitate learning experiences that are designed to be adaptable to fluctuating conditions and disruptions. This teaching ability can be seen as an outcome of a design approach that attends to the relationship between learning goals and activities, and the environments they are situated in. Resilient teaching approaches take into account how a dynamic learning context may require new forms of interactions between teachers, students, content, and tools.<\/em><\/p>\n As Quintana and Devaney note, resilient teaching goes far beyond pedagogy per se. Narrowly, resilient teaching might be seen as coping with the pivot to emergency remote teaching. More broadly, resilient teaching stretches to encompass course design, and includes the well-being of students and faculty, the capacity of instructors to avoid burnout and sustain productive careers, all while attending to the importance of student success, equity, and inclusion.<\/p>\n Because totally asynchronous online teaching\u2013the mode of most Ecampus courses\u2013doesn\u2019t involve synchronous class meetings, it may receive less attention than on-campus teaching in conversations about resilient teaching. However, the manifold effects and overall disruption created by COVID-19, and the importance of instructor and student wellness are profoundly applicable to asynchronous online learning. Resilient teaching is essential in all teaching and learning modalities.<\/p>\n How serious is the need for resilient teaching and learning? Nationally, faculty report A Stunning Level of Student Disconnection<\/a>, and both faculty and administrators see the value of supporting students through trauma-informed teaching practices<\/a>. Many institutions are also concerned about The Great Faculty Disengagement<\/a> and anecdotal evidence that many faculty are Calling It Quits<\/a>. UC Irvine has even created a new position for a pedagogical wellness specialist<\/a> both to support the well-being of faculty and graduate teaching assistants and to train them in teaching practices that support student well-being.<\/p>\n An ongoing series of activities at Oregon State University is focusing on resilient teaching:<\/p>\n Modular teaching allows us to transition quickly from in-person to remote synchronous or HyFlex teaching; it also creates pathways for addressing quarantines and family emergencies\u2013both our own and our students. Finally, it lays the foundation for future blended learning experiences, where students might learn in a hybrid format with both in-person and remote online elements.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Scott\u2019s modular approach is in keeping with Ecampus online and hybrid course design principles<\/a>, using backward course design to align learning activities, assignments, and assessments with course learning outcomes. Scott urges instructors to rethink activities that are \u201cmodality limited\u201d to synchronous classroom delivery, and to be prepared for the exigencies of asynchronous or remote delivery.<\/p>\n Symposium participants reflected in small groups on their resiliency and evidence they\u2019ve seen of possible burnout. Then they discussed potential strategies to avoid burnout and build resilience into their teaching and their lives. Their resilient teaching suggestions on a participant Jamboard included:<\/p>\n Want to learn more about resilient teaching? Recommended starting points:<\/p>\n Resilient teaching and learning will continue to garner much-needed attention as higher education moves through the long wake of the pandemic.<\/p>\n What are your strategies for maintaining resilience? Let\u2019s talk about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The concept of resilient teaching has come to the forefront in the 2-plus years since the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly and radically altered the landscape of higher education. As faculty, students, and administrators devise strategies to cope with the myriad changes brought about by the pandemic, questions are ubiquitous about how to best support students and… Continue reading Need<\/h2>\n
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