A Compassionate Approach to IL Instruction: What We Can Learn from the COVID-19 Pandemic

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the lives of college students across the United States. These students, many of whom had never taken an online class prior to the pandemic, had to quickly adapt to the virtual learning environment and continue their studies during a time of great uncertainty. At the same time, many professors were teaching online for the first time, altering their instructional approaches to meet the needs of students. Both students and faculty faced immense stress caused by the public health crisis, economic distress, political turmoil, and racial injustice plaguing our nation during this time.

This article explores the pedagogy of teaching during a pandemic, with an emphasis on compassionate teaching. It identifies the educational barriers that college students faced with the rapid shift to online learning and considers how their experiences might provide insights for librarians. The recommendations for library practice include selecting a small number of essential learning outcomes for each instruction session, supplementing in-person or synchronous online sessions with asynchronous materials, and establishing a sense of community within the classroom. In addition to these suggestions, the author shares a narrative of her experiences incorporating compassionate pedagogy into online library instruction.