Other Design Considerations
Creating a Sense of Belonging, Connection, and Hope
Learning is a social process, enacted through interactions between students, faculty, ideas, and increasingly, the community outside the classroom.Creating brave spaces for these interactions allows students to process, think, discuss, and explore ideas in new ways. This isn’t an easy way forward, though it is hopeful. As most of us know, teaching and learning can be stressful and challenging for both teachers and students in the best of circumstances. In our current times, we may find that we and/or our students may be experiencing something that can only be described as traumatic. Students who may have been struggling prior to the pandemic may be experiencing even more challenges now. What may help us all move through this time is thinking through “trauma-informed strategies”, or even more hopeful, “healing centered engagement.”
Before you continue, reflect on the following:“There is consensus in the literature about the benefits of a student’s sense of belonging. Researchers suggest that higher levels of belonging lead to increases in GPA, academic achievement, and motivation.” – Carey Borkoski, “Cultivating Belonging”
- Identity: who am I as a teacher? Who are my students?
- Power: How are my students and I respectively situated (relative to opportunity, institutional power)?
- Context: What is our situation (this course) and our equity challenge this semester?
- Partnership: Given the above, how can we create a partnership that is liberating for all in the course?