Teaching During Global and Geopolitical Crisis A Companion Document for Parafaculty Educators

^{Developed by: Everett Igobwa (Critical Pedagogies and EDI) and Mandy Penney (Digital Pedagogies and Access) in Collaboration with the Office of the Vice-Provost (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and the Office of the Dean of Students | Fall 2023}

---

Context:

This abbreviated companion document for parafaculty educators provides a succinct list of strategies and some additional external resources from our longer guide on Teaching During Global and Geopolitical Crisis. This resource is intended to provide ideas for educators who are not necessarily faculty or course / classroom / lab instructors, but who do teaching/learning work across campus in a variety of roles, such as

• TAs
• Librarians
• Tutors
• Academic Advisors
• Career Advisors
• Trainers

Our hope is that this resource will be useful for educators who are doing teaching/learning work in and beyond classrooms but who are not always course instructors. At CTL, we recognize and value the pedagogical work and expertise of educators across a variety of job titles, units, and areas of expertise, and we know that you, too, will be working with students who are impacted by the current violence unfolding in the Middle East. If you would like a consultation with one of our Educational Developers or want to join one of our workshops, communities of practice and care, or reading groups, please visit our our webpage for more information.

Tips and Strategies for Engaging in Conversations with Students through Affective, Trauma-Informed, and Justice-Oriented Lenses:

Note: The key frameworks that inform the suggested strategies in this resource include a) students-as-partners, b) accountable spaces and communities, c) Indigenizing and decolonizing pedagogies, d) communities of practice and care, and e) critical pedagogies and praxis

• Add an EDI statement into your email signature and/or your webpage
• Model self-reflexivity, vulnerability, and relationality with students* when appropriate (e.g., sharing your social location, reflecting on your own experiences related to equity, power, privilege)
• Consider how you will proactively get to know and build relationships with students when you meet them in a wholistic way
• Address equity-focused and access-oriented approaches early and often, including right before difficult, challenging, uncomfortable conversations
• Welcome feedback from students on their current mood, energy, and capacity, and adjust your plans and work with them accordingly
• Structure conversations to support equity of voice in group teaching/learning sessions
• Review principles of Trauma-Informed Pedagogies
• Always respond to moments that are uncomfortable, challenging, or disruptive in group sessions / workshops - any response, even an imperfect one, is better than none at all
• Refer everyone to community guidelines for engagement, early and often, for compassionate, respectful, and accountable conversations
• Recognize and validate your students’ lived experiences and engage them as partners in your teaching and learning relationship
• Acknowledge the ongoing crisis succinctly and compassionately and offer on- and off-campus supports
• Demonstrate empathy for students who are struggling as a result of geopolitical violence and its omnipresence in society and through media
• Offer flexible opportunities for workshop engagement, such as a pause for a writing reflection and synchronous / asynchronous / blended opportunities to participate
• Use a prepared script that you have practiced for disruptive moments if you are concerned that you will not know how to respond to discriminatory or hateful remarks, should they arise in individual or group settings
• Reflect on moments of difficult or disruptive conversations in individual and group settings: what went well, what didn’t go well, what you might do in a future instance
• Acknowledge the challenges of uncomfortable conversations / offensive comments, including how you felt in that moment
• Mindfully and equitably hold space for those who are most impacted by the conversation / comments (i.e., equity-denied students)

^{*like students, instructors’ social locations may impact the degree to which they feel safe and empowered to share their own positionality / social location, especially for equity-denied and precarious / early-career scholars.}

Additional / External Resources for Further Reading, Reflection, and Action

Canadian Writing Centres Association. Statement of Commitment to Antiracism.
This position statement was ratified by the professional and student tutors of the organization in order to promote antiracist practices and advocacy in higher education writing centres. The commitments to action can be borrowed or modified across parafaculty contexts. This kind of work is especially important at a time when students and other community members may be experiencing racist harrasment because they are - or are perceived as - Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, and/or Muslim.

Office of Human Rights and Safe Disclosure. University of Alberta.
Finding and attending opportunities for our own learning, learning and relearning through OHRSD, as well as CTL and Wellness, is one way that we can show up for our students. By continuously engaging in learning about trauma-informed, justice-oriented, and inclusive pedagogies, we can reflect on and expand our understanding of ways to minimize harm and provide robust, equitable, and comprehensive support to the students we collaborate with across campus.

Students’ Union. Peer Support Centre. University of Alberta.
In addition to formalized mental and physical health supports on campus, being aware of student-to-student services, including the Peer Support Centre, as well as First Peoples’ House and Unitea, are all great ways for us to refer students to other students so they can build community with and support each other.

University of Texas Libraries. Teaching Tips and Resources: Inclusive Teaching in Library Instruction. University of Texas.
While this resource was developed for librarians, the tips contained within offer a number of helpful concrete strategies that apply across parafaculty contexts. Some key considerations it offers on inclusive language, accessibility, and reflective practice are especially useful and important during a fraught and traumatic geopolitical and social landscape.