Teach with care, compassion

CURRENT teaching challenges are multifaceted, which call for a range of endemic pedagogy instructional decisions, dynamic leadership skills, and most importantly empathy and compassion.

At this crucial juncture, when students and teachers are feeling the impacts of post-pandemic, it is timely to make the classroom spaces warm, welcoming, inclusive, safe and caring.

In an “Education Now” webinar held in a neighbouring country recently, a panel of teachers and teacher educators addressed this issue.

In Malaysia, too, we need to look into this matter seriously. We don’t always know the other person’s story, be it a student or staff member. A student who is perceived to be confused may in fact be tired or stressed. A person who is not working hard enough may actually not know the right channeltogethelp.

Teaching with care and compassion means understanding each one’s story.

It is worse when all the teachers focus on is to finish the syllabus and drill students with techniques to answer examination questions.

“Digital learning loss”, a term used to describe the impact of online learning during the pandemic, should not be seen in a negative light. In fact, many students and teachers gained new skills from the Internet.

The focus should not be what students and teachers cannot do but what they can build together.

Students’ soft skills in technology can be a bridge for teachers to build rapport and understand the students better beyond the academic realm.

Such an invaluable opportunity strengthens the relationship between teachers and students through mutual respect and care.

That brings us to compassion fatigue and how teachers tackle multitasking while empathising with students’ struggles.

We need to discuss with students how we struggled to adapt to new technologies and how students suffered in isolation away from their peers during the pandemic.

All in all, a two-way communication will gain appreciation and trust from students to work with their teachers to face the future, which is

getting complex by the day.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR VISHALACHE BALAKRISHNAN

Chair, Centre for Research in International and Comparative Education; coordinator, SULAM@ Service Learning, Universiti Malaya