Postdigital Pedagogies of Care

• In Event: Enhancing Educational Equity Through Digital Learning

Abstract

Equity in online learning is of critical importance particularly in the (post)pandemic context. Even before the pandemic digital education has illuminated inequalities in the student experience. The rapid and sudden move to online learning and teaching during the pandemic did not impact all tertiary students equally. One example is how it compounded stressors for Māori tertiary students, an already underserved population (Akuhata-Huntington, 2020). The uncertainties of COVID and related future crises demand that we plan for and accommodate increased flexibility and adaptability in instruction that is responsive to both students and current social contexts.
We believe blended/ online learning is as much social-emotional as it is cognitive. Relationships are key to authentic learning experiences for Māori and non-Māori students alike. Consequently, social learning, care, and connection are critical elements of learning. Drawing on a feminist ethics of care perspective we view care as complex and multifaceted with not right or wrong approach (Fisher & Tronto, 1990). Our teaching is situated in the postdigital context were the boundaries between virtual and face to face, digital and analogue are no longer be separate (Knox, 2019). As such we seek to combine the strands of pedagogies of care within the postdigital to engage more deeply with the intersection of the relationships between digital technologies, students and educators to rethink our approach to digital learning for the post-pandemic university.
This project draws on Design-based Research (DBR) (The Design-Based Research Collective, 2003). This is a systematic but flexible research approach that is aimed at improving educational practices through iterative analysis, design, development and implementation and is based on collaboration among researchers and practitioners in real world settings leading to design principles and theories.
Our analysis involved a review of literature, interview podcasts with global experts, and an unconference which acted as a think tank for sharing experiences and generating ideas. We then implemented ideas and strategies in our own tertiary courses which were evaluated through student focus groups and assessments and artefacts produced by students as a normal part of their course participation. Reflecting on these experiences, we expanded our project to collaborated with colleagues in other courses. This was also evaluated through focus groups and a follow up workshop with the participants from the unconference
The project has enabled us to expand our strategies for student-centred digital learning although this has not been without challenges. How educators and students experience digital learning can be contradictory (Forbes & Gedera, 2019). Students are not a homogenous group and what works well for some groups isn’t necessarily desirable for others.
Reflecting on our own experiences as well as that of colleagues and students we inform an understanding of pedagogies of care that is responsive to students’ different needs in a postdigital world. Our findings have enabled us to repurpose the Covid19 ‘disruption’ toward enhancing the equity and impact of our instructional models.

Authors

• Cheryl Brown, University of Canterbury
  Presenting Author

• Sara E. Tolbert, University of Canterbury
  Non-Presenting Author