CTLgrads Learning Community – Considering the Whole Self in Teaching and Learning: Mental and Physical Wellbeing in the Classroom, Part 1 (for graduate students)

It is no secret that stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges are prevalent in higher education. In fact, each year, more students report experiencing negative academic impacts from stress than from the common cold and flu (NCHA, 2019). Yet standard mental health policies we include in our syllabi often frame these experiences as something to be addressed solely outside of the classroom. This learning community takes a different approach, recognizing that, as instructors and TAs, we have the power to support and prioritize our students’ (and our own) physical and mental well-being in the classroom, and that doing so can foster student learning.

In this learning community, we will re-center well-being by focusing on the techniques we, as instructors, can deploy in the classroom (or on Zoom). Such a re-centering of health is crucial now, as COVID-19, state-sanctioned violence, anti-Black racism, and political turmoil compound mental burdens and trauma. In this learning community, participants will explore the deeply entwined spheres of mental and emotional health, the human body, and education. Through a combination of asynchronous modules and synchronous workshop and discussion sessions, participants will frame the literature of mental health and bodily awareness in the classroom with their lived experience and leave with concrete methods of incorporating new insights into their own practice. By implementing these methods, our goal is for both students and teachers to experience more positive, rewarding, and healthy class spaces, and to support each other in working toward this vision.

Please register here.

*Please note: Prior to Session 1, registrants should complete all readings and activities in Module 1 of this asynchronous resource: https://courseworks2.columbia.edu/enroll/E637CL in order to prepare for and supplement Session 1 discussions.

This learning community is designed and facilitated by Abby Schroering and Adam Massmann, Senior Lead Teaching Fellows at the Center for Teaching and Learning and is part of a 2-part Learning Community series. Participation in both meetings of this LC is strongly encouraged; please be sure to register for Session 2 (On October 28, 2020) as well at: https://events.columbia.edu/go/wellbeing2.

Please contact CTLgrads@columbia.edu with any questions.
Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Contact ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu for accommodations.

This event may be recorded and/or screenshots of the session may be taken. For concerns, contact ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu.