Teaching and Learning in Uncertainty: The Role of Care and Kindness in the Classroom (In-Person)

Why are care and kindness traditionally regarded as antithetic to academic rigour? In this session, we consider the role of care and kindness in teaching and learning, especially in times of uncertainty. We will examine the pedagogy of care/kindness as a framework to help graduate students balance their own boundaries with compassion and transparency and foster shame resiliency with students by building support networks and demystifying information.

We adopt a trauma-sensitive approach that engages with our identities and vulnerabilities as educators and learners. Our workshop will encourage participants to see how these factors work together to shape the classroom experience, not as disruptions or sources of distress but as necessary reminders that safe, kind, and care-centred classrooms are ultimately more conducive to teaching and learning. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on experiential challenges and sources of discomfort and identify strategies to reshape discomforts as sources of innovations.