Amplification of an Inconvenience
I was working with a group of students today and they were great. A lot of vibrant personalities and some fun banter back and forth, but they were so motivated and hard working it made a dull Friday really good fun.
As the day went on and we got chatting my students asked about my background, my studies and my research project. I mentioned that I was studying students perceptions of community and its impact on learning. At that, one student volunteered a comment which startled me a little.
One of the students said that they had been at another college some time ago and in comparison, they said the level of respect between the staff and students at this institution was terrible. I was quite stunned and asked her to elaborate. She explained that she had been described as an inconvenience by one of her lecturers.
("Science Garden building site outside Millennium Point - We Apologise for any Inconvenience Caused - sign" by ell brown is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Whèn I questioned the student more closely, the problem lay in the fact that the class work she had been doing at the time was based around a paper workbook which had been carefully written by the curriculum team and distributed in paper copy to the students themselves. In a rush one morning, the student rushed out the door and forgot to lift her workbook off the bedside table. We've all been there and we've all had days like that. The lecturer was simply frustrated that they had to interrupt their class time to go retrieve another paper copy from storage.
Firstly let me say that I understand completely how irritating it can be when students forget to bring their materials to class with them, and yes it can cause some disruption to the start of a lesson. We've all been there. But what got me was that I had known this student for an hour and I could see how motivated and hard working she was. This single throw away comment by a frustrated lecturer had clearly left a lasting mark on this student damaging their working relationship significantly. Moreover, the other students who witnessed this interaction and their perception of their lecturer had been impacted too.
It seems a shame that such a minor event lead to such a major breakdown in the relationship between the lecturer and the class. But what bothers me is that it was completely avoidable.
As a maths educator I understand the need to write things down. In fact I wrote a blog about that very thing (McIntosh, 2021). But I have to ask why, in the very month where a global climate emergency summit is being held in my home country of Scotland, why are we still reliant on paper copies? If teaching during a pandemic has taught us anything has it not shown us how to make learning and teaching materials available in other formats?
Moreover, has it come to the point that when we encounter learners who don't have any obvious visible disabilities we don't see the need to make adjustments for accessibility or inclusion? Let's examine a definition which could shed some light here.
"Inclusion is a broad-reaching term. When used in an educational context, inclusion refers to the removal of barriers to equal participation related to factors such as age, economic situation, disability, education level, gender, geographic location or language. However, the term accessibility specifically focuses on ensuring equal participation for disabled people." (Open University, 2018).
When even the simplest of barriers such as a student forgetting their notes, mere human error, causes such damage to learning and teaching relationships, then making resources available in alternative formats, regardless of whether or not the learners are disabled in any way, is worth the time and effort required to do so. Have we become so focused on the disability aspect of this definition that we forget the motivation behind it - equal access and participation for all?
I was reminded in this instance of the amplification effect that @mweller writes about in his book the Digital Scholar (Weller, 2011). It occurred to me that what happened here was an amplification of a human error that brought about an inconvenience that ultimately impacted the relationship between a teacher and their whole class. Most surprisingly, this amplification occurred not because of the presence of technology, but because of its absence.
While technology can amplify our voices through online computer networks, any sociologist will tell you that those same social networks were present long before the advent of computer (McIntosh, 2020). As we return to the classroom situation it's easy to forget about the presence of networks because its often a term associated with technology. But society is strewn with social networks which allow information to travel by word of mouth. True, it may not amplify our voice in the same way as technology affords, but amplification occurs none-the-less.
A second thing occurred to me as, earlier in the week, I had been sitting through a quality assurance meeting to discuss issues of malpractice and maladministration. During this meeting, it was highlighted that maladministration by way of human error is viewed in the same light as academic malpractice. Think about that for a moment. There is no longer any room for human error in the education system. Is that really where we've arrived at?
("Malpractice Definition Dictionary Magnifying Glass" by allenallen1910 is licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Less than 18 months ago there was an outcry from people across the world as, slowly and surely, the realisation that our loved ones and the people around us were valued more than ever because we feared losing them. Where is that same value for humanity now, a simple human error, something we all do, it's considered malpractice or maladministration. And so the cycle of accountability reasserts itself dehumanising us as it goes.
Teachers are human, students are human and therefore mistakes will happen. If we want an education system free of human error then maybe we need robots. But that wouldn't work either because it doesn't have the human social contact we all need - I remember that debate during the height of the pandemic too.
So, what's the solution? I want to leave you with a thought from an inspiring lady, @LaurenHug, who wrote these words in her Digital Hope newsletter:
"Forgiveness allows us to stay on the same team — pioneers exploring a new frontier, simultaneously learning about it, ourselves, and others."
Let's stay on the same team as our students. Maybe for some teachers who are continuing to teach online and are getting frustrated by the technology, for you this might apply in a digital context. For those of us, including myself, who are rapidly returning to face to face teaching and feeling a bit overwhelmed, again let's remember that a little bit of kindness can go a long way.
References
McIntosh, M. (2020) Mathematical Sociology... maths is not just for geeks! [Online]. Available at: https://mcsquaredreflections.blogspot.com/2020/11/mathematical-sociology-maths-is-not.html (Accessed 10th November 2021).
McIntosh, M. (2021) Is the pen mightier than the laptop [Online]. Available at: https://mcsquaredreflections.blogspot.com/2021/02/is-pen-mightier-than-laptop.html (Accessed 9th November 2021).
Open University (2018) Myth: online education is more accessible than face-to-face education [Online]. Available at: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-online-educator/5/steps/433419 (Accessed 8th November 2021).
Weller, M. (2011)
The Digital Scholar: How
Technology is Transforming Scholarly Practice,
London, Bloomsbury.
Hug, L. (2021) Can we forgive people for what they post online? Navigating the digital frontier as poineers, instead of as adversaries [Online]. Available at: https://digitalhope.substack.com/p/can-we-forgive-people-for-what-they?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1MDg2NDc1NSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NDMxMzk4ODQsIl8iOiJhS1JjWSIsImlhdCI6MTYzNjU2MDkyNCwiZXhwIjoxNjM2NTY0NTI0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItNDg3NTM4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.UAM1yYnkPmZeYHSXeqVwGt88qBc6AQDAajBJ3Ve8s7c (Accessed 10th November 2021).
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