Contemplative Pedagogy: Preparing Faculty for Deep Teaching during Crisis

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: because of COVID-19, higher education has been changed forever. Or this one: this is our new normal. If you are like me, you have heard these platitudes almost daily for what seems like an eternity. In reality, though, our world has changed, if not forever, then at least for now. You know how our world has changed. For one, remote work now permeates our campus for both faculty and staff. The student experience has also changed as on-campus housing and events have been replaced by at-home study and virtual social encounters. And, most important for this article, teaching and learning shifted as face-to-face or blended courses were moved, rapidly, online. This rapid transition to online learning in spring 2020 necessitated quick-thinking pedagogy. I believe we are now at a place where we can replace our quick-thinking pedagogy with deep-thinking pedagogy.