Humanized Learning Resources
Humanized/Humanizing Learning is an approach to teaching that encourages instructors to embrace awareness, empathy, presence, and trust in their classrooms.
Based primarily on the work of Dr. Torrey Trust, an associate professor of learning technology at UMass Amherst, this pedagogical approach dovetails nicely with the work we have being doing at the CFDE in the areas of Inclusive Pedagogy, Social Justice Pedagogies, and Teaching in Tumultuous Times. As the pandemic continues to impact how and where we teach, this work helps us to deliver our content and engage our students while remembering that living through a pandemic is difficult for both teachers and students. We've included some of Dr. Trust's resources below to help you (further) humanize your learning this semester.
In tandem with humanized learning, as you develop your syllabi and assignments for the semester, check out these resources on flexible deadlines. If you're struggling with how to implement a more dynamic deadlines in the classroom. Here are a few ideas from the articles below:
- In the real world, its more about managing deadlines than meeting them exactly. You can help your students practice this in class by offering a submission window (e.g. paper is due on any day from 2/2-2/6) and incentives for turning it in on the first day.
- Having assignments due at midnight feels flexible and gracious. But it's also encouraging your students to stay up until the 11th hour to complete an assignment. Try making your assignments due at class time. (More details in the articles on creating "passes" for students if they aren't able to meet a deadline).