When "Sheltering in Place" Is Not Enough: Care, Dialogue, and Eco-Mindedness During COVID-19

• In Event: Seeing 2020

Abstract

During the COVID 19 pandemic, educators were presented with an opportunity, as well as an unprecedented challenge, to engage with their students in a dialogue that transcended academics. As our society is experiencing profound and traumatic changes, children can easily become alienated by a reality that does not recognize their voices. Teachers have an ethical responsibility to acknowledge the struggle and provide resources for students in a delicate junction of their formative years. This study, grounded in educational criticism, sought to understand why and how teachers showed care and purposeful intent to interact with their students in an authentic way. Educators’ interviews and observations demonstrated caring for students in a dialogical way is not an option but a necessity.

Authors

• Laura Zucca-Scott, Minot State University

• Daniel R. Conn, Minot State University