Cultivating a Pedagogy of Care: Adaptations to Writing Instruction and Course Structure During the Evolving Pandemic and Beyond

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of cultivating a pedagogy of care and strengthening community for all postsecondary courses, especially those employing the high-impact practice of teaching with writing. In this mixed methods study, we found that instructors of Writing Intensive courses at a Midwestern university (n = 79) made moderate changes to their overall course structure and writing assignments during the early stages of the pandemic (Spring 2020 through Spring 2021). Open-ended comments revealed instructors provided more instructional guidance with frequent low-stakes assignments, explicit directions, flexibility regarding how students achieved learning goals, and/or additional instructor feedback. A variety of resources informed these modifications, and resource use fluctuated throughout the pandemic. Instructors reported that most changes focused on cultivating a supportive and welcoming learning environment that continues to inform their post-pandemic instruction. Findings from this study highlight the importance of relationships and diverse sources of support for navigating current and future challenges in postsecondary instruction.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• online courses
• pandemics
• pedagogy of care
• writing instruction

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the University of Missouri Campus Writing Program and all the instructors who participated in the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Missouri Campus Writing Program’s Writing Intensive Project Award.