As the world around us continues to shift, it is increasingly clear that our roles and activities as educators are also forever changed. Since we re-entered our classrooms this year, we’ve gained experience and understanding of just how different things are now. In fact, some of the strategies and techniques we prioritized before the pandemic aren’t as well suited now. As we realize that re-establishing our practices might not be as straightforward as we’d hoped, we may be finding it necessary to re-evaluate our tools and strategies, and even redefine some core elements of our teaching and learning philosophies and practices. Inspired by recent publications from educators like you, this blog series will explore topics reflecting these ongoing paradigm shifts in our modern classroom. Through these “Candid Conversations,” we’ve examined current pedagogical priorities as we wrestle with upholding the standards and strategies of the past.
Through the fog: Navigating instructional fatigue and continuing to succeed
More than a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic and the great pivot to remote instruction, Lohr and Ursyn (2010) described the process of education as more complicated than rocket science; it is a process that requires practitioners to possess a variety of abilities and personal characteristics (Hatcher, 2008). Perhaps, if you are a rocket scientist, you might be inclined to dispute these claims, but maybe, we can all at least agree that teaching is challenging work, even under typical circumstances. While revealing any number of new opportunities, these last couple of years have not been typical. You’re likely tired; your students are tired. We’re all tired. Yet, the work remains, and our respective sense of duty presses us forward. Still, there must be a middle ground that leaves room for our own well-being and effective student-centric practices. Right?
This final installment of the Candid Conversations series seeks to acknowledge instructional fatigue and how one can become or continue to be student-centered without further draining their own resources and experiencing cognitive and compassion fatigue. It may be more accurate to say this piece is about basic ideas to manage one’s way through these experiences, continue to support students, and not abandon self-care. Though writing primarily about the K12 teaching experience, Spencer (2021) acknowledges the demands of teaching at all levels and posits that many are experiencing end-of-year fatigue much earlier in the academic year. This, Spencer explains, is why educators may be feeling or even saying, “I can’t do anything new right now. I can’t try another innovative approach. I can’t pivot. I’m all pivoted out.”
Now in 2022, these sentiments still ring true for many. We’re just weeks beyond halfway into our semester, and the collective exhaustion around some campus communities makes it feel much later. Nevertheless, there is reason to be hopeful. The pandemic appears to be waning; spring is in the air, and the weather in Michigan is improving. This may be as good a time as any to answer the question ‘What now?’ Can we get through this semester and begin looking further down the road again without emptying our proverbial cup?
And after grades are submitted in May, then what? Looking to the fall semester, will we return from summer break feeling nervous excitement? Will the familiar positive anticipation that used to energize and propel us into new semesters return? Instead, if you are anticipating feelings of apprehension, or even dread, compassion fatigue or exhaustion might be whispering in your ear. For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, compassion fatigue has been described most simply as the cost of caring (Figley, 1995). To elaborate, we can draw from Raimondi (2019) to understand compassion fatigue as what happens to individuals whose role it is to care for others, leading to reduced empathy.
If you do find yourself ready, at some point soon, to consider the fall semester and academic year ahead, perhaps that thought can be focused on precisely two aims – increasing effectiveness AND simplifying practices. The remainder of this piece will, therefore, be addressing two areas:
- Re-approaching student support strategically
- Re-visiting our rules to consider changes or replacements
Be strategic in your support of students.
In a pre-pandemic world, supporting a student who had to miss a class or leave early may have meant simply finding a volunteer to provide them with the notes or inviting them to meet with you during your office hours to catch up. Such a strategy worked well for a student or two, maybe three. However, when the absences stretched into two-week-long quarantines, impacted multiple students, and all at different points in time, which may have overlapped, or not, strategies of the past easily resulted in unmanageable and stressful circumstances. Adams and Hale (2022) acknowledge that every semester likely includes students who struggle with completing work, with understanding absences, or other difficulties. This, of course, was true before the pandemic, during, and will be after. Having a strategic, collaborative problem-solving plan in place can ensure consistent handling of issues, help to keep situations manageable, and appropriately hold students accountable. In essence, this can “help us help students to help themselves” (2022).
Revamp your rules.
Like many of us, students continue reporting that they, too, are stressed and exhausted (Gurung, 2022). Suppose we begin from a place of acknowledging that everyone’s fatigue is real and that we can only know for sure how we, ourselves, feel (and even that can be challenging at times). In that case, room can be made to re-visit some past standards and even consider changes. Gurung (2022) explores this arena through the lens of a key question: How can we be responsive as educators yet, at the same time, not be taken advantage of?
As a concrete example, many of us have late work policies and perhaps generally do not accept late work. In a recent student panel sponsored by CMU’s Multicultural Diversity Education Council (MDEC), when asked, panelists agreed that a simple 24-hour extension is enough flexibility to make all the difference. One panelist referenced an instructor policy that allowed each student to choose one project for which she could opt to have extra time. The point of ideas like these or implementing such policies is not to further complicate our practices as educators, but rather quite the opposite. The aim is, in fact, two-fold – first, codifying a flexibility policy makes parameters clear and will, in time, reduce and even eliminate many requests for exceptions. Secondly, perhaps of equal or even greater importance is positioning ourselves to see many requests for additional time not as a failing on the part of students but instead as an indicator our “course-design calibration needs some work” (Gurung, 2022). There are, of course, many reasons work is sequenced in a particular way, to iterate and build knowledge, to improve upon drafts, etc. Nevertheless, thinking differently about requests for exceptions creates new opportunities to improve our own experience and that of students.
Thank you for your attention to this series of blog posts. The topics in these ‘Candid Conversations’ evoked a good deal of response from the faculty community, for which we are abundantly grateful. As always, if you would like to discuss any of the ideas in this piece further, consult on how we can best support your students and care for yourself as an educator, or tap into resources and services, please contact us at cis@cmich.edu, call 989-774-3615, or stop by Park Library 413.
References
Adams, D. & Hale, E. (2022). Supporting struggling students through collaborative problem solving. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/supporting-struggling-students-through-collaborative-problem-solving/?st=FFWeekly%3Bsc%3DFFWeekly220223%3Butm_term%3DFFWeekly220223
Figley, C. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York, NY : Taylor and Francis Group.
Hatcher, J. A. (2008). The public role of professionals: Developing and evaluating the Civic-Minded Professional scale (Doctoral dissertation). Indiana University.
Lohr, L., & Ursyn, A. (2010). Visualizing the instructional design process: Seven usability strategies for promoting creative instruction. Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, 4(2), 427-436.
Raimondi, T. P. (2019). Compassion fatigue in higher education: Lessons from other helping fields. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 51(3), 52-58.
Spencer, J. (2021) You Don’t Have to Be a Martyr to Do Student-Centered Learning, https://spencerauthor.com/martyr-student-centered/