Generosity As I have written about before, we have been using the Circle of Courage, from Brendtro, Brokenleg and Van Bockern, as a way to guide our discussions about online teaching and learning in our Friday faculty sharing circles. Generosity was the fourth and last component of the circle that we discussed. Together with belonging, mastery, and independence, generosity can help students and instructors develop resilience and feel connected to a purpose outside of their own wants and needs. As post-secondary instructors, most of us know the importance of generosity; it is one of the reasons we became teachers. We did not choose this job for the pay, the prestige or the privilege - it was about giving and sharing. For at its core, teaching is a very altruistic activity; it is an act of love and kindness. Most of us chose this job because we want to make a difference for our students; we want to encourage their growth, sustain their well-being, and set them up for success. Those who entered the profession to show off their expertise or bestow their wisdom on the rest of us, usually move on to other professions or management. Their place is not in messy, demanding and often unpredictable world of the classroom. Generosity thrives when we create safe spaces; spaces where there is shared inquiry, effective collaboration, regular encouragement, an emphasis on development, and a commitment to honesty. Generosity involves open listening, two-way dialogue, and the opportunity for students to develop self-efficacy (I can do this!). As educators, we must constantly look to build environments (face-to-face and online) that allow our students to practice generosity through our activities (discussions, forums, and group work), assignments and assessments. As an institution that is concerned about “workforce readiness”, we know that developing soft skills around collegiality and teamwork are essential, and an emphasis on generosity will help with that. Moreover, generosity needs modelling. As an old friend once shared with me: “preaching only induces more preaching; it is only sincere and modeled practice that will promote more practice”. Instead of telling our students how important it is to share, build community, and promote the well-being of others, we need to practice what we preach. This can be done in grand ways, but it often starts with small gestures like kind words and friendly gestures, gifts of time and resources, invitations for input and insight, allowances for missteps and learning through mistakes, or simply asking an important question like: “How are you doing?” or “How can I support you in your learning?” In our sharing on June 5th, session faculty shared many of the ways that they encourage the practice of generosity in their learning environments, people suggested:
As Jamie Medicine Crane shared, “Generosity is like medicine; it establishes reciprocity and trust, it feeds our souls and also those around us. Generosity recognizes and acknowledges underlying pressures and seeks to share the burdens and the joys, collectively.” Brendtro, L, Brokenleg, M and Van Bockern, S (2005), The Circle of Courage and Positive Psychology, Reclaiming Children and Youth (The Journal of Strength‐Based Interventions), Compassion Publishing, Volume 14, Number 3
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AuthorJeff Kuntz Ph.D. ImagesExcept where indicated, images used in the blog posts are personal photos, images from NorQuest College or images from Pixabay. Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. https://pixabay.com/ Archives
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