“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is written as two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity”
– John F. Kennedy, 1959
“Those who purvey the doctrine that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of elements meaning “danger” and “opportunity” are engaging in a type of muddled thinking that is a danger to society, for it lulls people into welcoming crises as unstable situations from which they can benefit. Adopting a feel-good attitude toward adversity may not be the most rational, realistic approach to its solution.”
– Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania, 2009
Schools are shutting down. Every teacher I know is scrambling to complete emergency online education training. No one really knows how to prepare for a universally mandated transition to remote learning – in less than a week. Spring Break is supposed to be a needed respite, yet, I have to prep new classes in an untested and unfamiliar environment. As I slump back in my chair after a day of constructing learning modules, I can’t help thinking – What am I doing? How will this help students? Will we even have enough bandwidth to do this in the first place?!?!
And yet, amid the chaos and confusion, administrators try to convince teachers that this is no big deal – ‘just move your classes online and keep students engaged’, no problem. Our leaders are blowing the dust off of an oldie but goodie – “Think of it this way, every crisis is an opportunity!!!” I can’t help but roll my eyes (from a comfortable distance), try not to gasp and inhale bleach as I clean my desk and laugh out loud as I see tweet after tweet of empty shelves where toilet paper and soap used to be. I want to do a good job, help my students and ‘make lemons out of lemonade’, but how…and maybe more importantly, why?
As a historian, I know that the very American rallying cry of ‘crisis = opportunity!’ is grounded in cultural and conceptual misunderstanding of Chinese language and culture. JFK was wrong.
But, ok, I’ll play along – can I find opportunities in this crisis moment? If so, where do I start? and most importantly, how much do I have to change what I am doing already as an educator?
I teach art history, which is typically a textbook-based, lecture delivered and content-driven field. This old-school methodology has never been a natural fit for me as a teacher. So, this year, I have been experimenting with turning my F2F classroom into more of a project and practice-based learning environment. In other words, I’ve been trying to turn the art history classroom into the kind of teaching and learning space more typically associated with studio art or the performing arts.
As we move into an online environment, I’m trying to figure out how I can continue what I am already doing – trying out new pedagogies and ways to teach and learn art history. I think this moment provides an opportunity for higher education educators to play, experiment and maybe even tear down some of the old structures, methods and ways of thinking about how our students learn, why what we teach is relevant and how we can best teach in a way that balances knowledge, skill-building and real world applications. I don’t know how this is going to work, or what exactly I will do – so, for now, I’m not going to worry about it too much. At the end of the day, if we are just ‘there’ for our students and take care of ourselves as teachers and individuals – The Kids Will be Alright.
To me, the best thing I can do for my student is give them the courage and tools to self-learn while doing everything I can to help them take risks, stay connected to other humans, have fun. Ultimately I just want them to keep learning, something, anything – by any means necessary. I want to teach in a way that comforts and provides healthy distraction in this moment of confusion, chaos and social isolation. I want to be fearless, flexible and compassionate. I want to be a teacher, a safe space and a role model. I want to distance hug my students or shout off the rooftops so they can hear me – I am scared too! I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know the ‘right thing’ to do. But, I know there is a way!! We’ll figure it out together. For now – Love each other. Take Care of Yourself and,
Just. don’t. quit.
