Students and Educators Learning Together

By Kimiya Parker-Hill, Class of 2024

As college students, it is easy to believe that our professors do not understand us and vice versa; it is easy for educators to believe that students are not trying enough. It is important for both groups to remember that education is not a fixed system and has complexities that need to be assessed by collective accountability.  Building off my previous collaborative project, with CTRL Partner Reba Mathews, we must prioritize educator-student dynamics and promote cultivating learning environments where both students and educators can thrive. Learning environments work best when educators and students feel comfortable enough to make mistakes and when there exists  space for them to learn from these mistakes.

From my experience, as a college student, I have come to notice that students have more in common with our educators than we or they believe. I created a survey to poll the similarities between students and professors. I constructed a couple of questions that were student and educator-specific and a few questions about burnout for both groups to answer.

The survey showed that students need the following from educators to thrive:

• Be accommodating and understanding as we navigate different learning environments post-COVID-19 pandemic.
• Have leniency as students cannot always make school the number one priority.
• Combat limited and stagnant learning styles – implement experiential and interactive learning.
• Be flexible with curriculum and grading.
• Find new ways to assess participation or create spaces for students to feel comfortable enough to have in-class oral participation.
• Be available for students – “I would want learning to be a mutual effort between me and my teacher. I want to make sure they are invested in my learning and I don’t have to only rely on my own intrinsic motivation.”
• Implement multimodal resources such as podcasts and YouTube videos.
• Motivate students to learn, rather than work for the best grade.

By implementing these suggestions educators can begin to work towards sustaining positive and supportive learning environments. One professor shared in response to the question, ‘How to push through burnout?’ with “You can’t power through burnout. It will beat you every time”. It may be to students’ surprise that some educators understand that pushing through burnout will lead to bigger issues. It is important that educators check in with students and not contribute to student burnout. In these environments, students and educators can work towards preventing burnout.

The survey indicated the following leads to burnout:

• Dense and long readings as the sole learning material
• Pressure to be “the best” – “I’m constantly striving for perfection and tend to ignore my burnout for the sake of being the best.”
• Heavy workload
• Lecture-based classes

The survey indicated a few ways to prevent burnout:

• Self-motivation/Pep talks
• Sleep/Rest
• Go out and have fun
• Calm activity – meditation/yoga
• Time management – balance workload
• Take breaks

One professor shared in the survey that they support students by meeting them where they are through exhibiting empathy and patience. As well as incorporating group discussion, lecture, and multimedia among their teaching strategies. Burnout is an issue that not only affects students, but also our educators. Educators and students must learn together how to prevent burnout rather than pushing through it.