Compassionate Classrooms

Term: Summer 2022

Date: June 23rd, 2022

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Location: University Mall 2104

Instructors: 

Cheri Lemieux Spiegel, PhD

(cspiegel@nvcc.edu)

and

Paul Fitzgerald, PhD
(pfitzgerald@nvcc.edu)

Northern Virginia Community College
Annandale Campus

Presented By: Office of Inclusion & Diversity (INDV)

Description:

Compassion can seem like a finite resource that runs scarce as we navigate the academic calendar. Faculty navigate complex demands - some joyful and others onerous - throughout the term. Whether those demands are ones taken on by choice, accepted by grace, or imposed on us by others, the complexity of our lives can take a toll on us and impact how we arrive in our classrooms. How can we show up, for ourselves and for our students, as our best, most authentic, and compassionate selves? This workshop will provide space for educators to gather and discuss the compassion-related challenges they face as they explore the responsibilities they hold for themselves, and for their students. Building on the frameworks modeled in the Introductory workshop on Wednesday, June 22, this workshop will frame opportunities and challenges to living a compassionate consciousness while navigating the demands of the 21st Century classroom. It offers strategies for facilitating a compassionate classroom and tools to use to offer empathy to one’s self as well as exercises to cultivate compassionate communities within our teaching environments. Participants will gain experience designing learning materials that can be used to foster compassionate spaces, in any classroom, regardless of discipline.