The Case for a ‘Pedagogy of Kindness’: Now and in the Post-Pandemic University

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on Teaching

Abstract

The rapid, forced transition to remote online learning puts relationships at the forefront. Most of the existing surveys show that students’ dissatisfaction with remote online learning during the pandemic is unrelated to the content of what they are learning. Instead it stems primarily from the decrease in student/professor and student/student interactions, and a perceived lack of focus and of a sense of routine (which the classroom environment and the very ‘physicality’ of the university encourage). From the perspective of a “pedagogy of kindness”, the goal of this paper is to contribute to a catalogue of best practices to promote active learning in remote online settings. It focuses on collaborative in-class practices, which are designed to offset the negative effects of the forced transition, to encourage student participation and their sense of belonging to a community of engaged learners.

Author

• Simone R. Bohn, York University