By Kryn Freehling-Burton, OSU School of Language, Culture, and Society
Reflecting on my own teaching and learning consistently leads me to community. Compassion, nourishment, learning, and creativity run through my own resiliency and the ways I see students respond in the classroom, particularly since the pandemic lockdown. All of these are sharpened in community. “When we decide to be part of any community, we are making a commitment to literally be there for ourselves and for each other” (Grossman, 2019, p. 190). Students in my Gender, Race, and Pop Culture class read Grossman for class and we talk about how our classroom is a community. Staying in community requires trust and a willingness to listen and change with others as we learn.
During the first COVID-19 surge, we learned to make space to prevent illness and to recognize that we all need time to recover and heal. This compassion can lead us to continue to recognize these needs during ongoing COVID surges and other physical needs that we all have. Being gentle with ourselves as humans and as teachers, models for others—especially students—that compassion is a human skill that is valuable to our society. Compassion often requires time, and this can remind us to slow down, be in the moment, and to tend what is in front of us.
In the context of burgeoning generative AI use, I have been prioritizing process. And this surprisingly lends itself to community building of knowledge, in small groups and in the larger classroom. Shortcuts hurt us, but slowing down allows us to dig deeper, and that seems to be what the students need. And what I need.
Kryn Freehling-Burton
Sometimes tending what is in front of us is addressing hunger. I don’t like to admit how many times I work through lunch, but I am quickly reminded after an afternoon of teaching that I need that nourishment to fuel my brain and my body. Nourishing ourselves gives us that boost of vitamins and nutrients but also reminds us of our humanity and physical/body needs. With so many people in the country, and students in our classrooms facing increased food insecurity with SNAP benefits being cut, addressing these needs takes on additional urgency.
Nourishment is more than food; it is also the ways that we fill ourselves with energizing or calming experiences. I enjoy gardening and that nourishes my muscles and mind in addition to my body after harvest. But it also nourishes my senses to see the colors, to smell the earth and the plants, to hear the sounds of the tools clipping or the birds calling, to feel the leaves and seeds and wind. For others, nourishment may be a bubble bath or a hike in the mountains. Resiliency is fed by nourishing activities and can lead us to be in community with nature as well as with other humans.
Nourishment in a classroom may be bringing snacks for a film viewing or a meditation that invites reflection about each of our senses or even simply allowing students to eat their lunch during class. Food is an important part of our community events, providing time for people to connect with each other beyond a formal program or activity. This care for bodies in community demonstrates an ongoing care for self and others in a tangible way.
Nourishment and community contribute to my resiliency in teaching. This resiliency is most palpable when I am simultaneously learning. The faculty learning communities through the Center for Teaching and Learning, scholarly connections at conferences, reading newly released books and articles, and gathering with my colleagues are all spaces where I learn.
Forced learning of new technologies during the pandemic lockdown reminds us that we can shift at a moment’s notice to meet the needs of that moment. Sometimes slowing down and letting the students continue discussing rather than forging ahead to cover every single slide in my PowerPoint elicits deeper analysis and a recognition that their contributions matter. Teaching in Difference, Power, and Oppression courses requires this kind of reflection and synthesis.
In the context of burgeoning generative AI use, I have been prioritizing process. And this surprisingly lends itself to community building of knowledge, in small groups and in the larger classroom. Shortcuts hurt us, but slowing down allows us to dig deeper, and that seems to be what the students need. And what I need.
Emphasizing our humanity and prioritizing community needs is a process of care. “The assertion of care as a praxis extends beyond theorizing about violence and exploitation [of racial capitalism and settler colonialism] and engages the purposeful building of coalitions and networks of humans” (Grande, 2025, p. 46). Within coalitions and networks, individuals’ needs can be met; once needs are met, space for learning expands. Practicing care in classroom teaching, whether on campus or online, makes me a more resilient teacher in the ways that it humanizes my students, and therefore humanizes me.
References
Grande, S. (2021). Care. In The Keywords Feminist Editorial Collective (Eds.), Keywords for gender and sexuality studies. New York University Press.
Grossman, P. (2019). Waking the witch: Reflections on women, magic, and power. Gallery Books.
About the author: Kryn Freehling Burton is a Senior Instructor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Queer Studies program and has taught many core ed classes over the past twenty years. She coordinates the WGSS undergraduate program and can most days be found in the garden, planting, harvesting, or grading.
Editor’s note: This is part of a series of guest posts about resilience and teaching strategies by members of the Fall ’25 Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community facilitated by CTL. The opinions expressed in guest posts are solely those of the author.
Top image generated with Microsoft Copilot.
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