Teaching can’t go back to normal this fall. If it does, higher education has missed a huge opportunity to improve how instructors interact with students.
So said José Antonio Bowen last month during The Chronicle’s leadership summit, Higher Ed’s Reset. Bowen, an education consultant, jazz musician, and former president of Goucher College, described the need to hold on to new ideas and practices developed during the period of emergency remote teaching.
“It’s reasonable to say I just want to get back in the classroom. I do, too. But it doesn’t mean just going back to the way things were,” said Bowen, who is the author of the forthcoming book Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers Using Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection, and taught online executive-education courses at Southern Methodist University’s business school during the pandemic.
During the virtual event, he spoke with Goldie Blumenstyk, a Chronicle senior writer, about which changes to embrace, the importance of inclusive teaching, and what instructors can learn from a good piano lesson.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity. A recording of the discussion is available here.
Goldie Blumenstyk: Tell me what I might appreciate about piano lessons had I not quit in junior high.
José Antonio Bowen: First, application is all that matters. It’s what the students can do that matters.
The second is that, mostly, the teacher designs the practice, the student does the work. Most of the work is done away from you, the instructor.
You are also teaching self-regulation and self-reflection. You want the student to know when the piece is ready to be performed. You give feedback. You want to be immediate and nonjudgmental.
The goal is to help your students find their own voice. You don’t want all of your students to sound the same.
Blumenstyk: What does that have to do with what professors and students have experienced this past year?
Bowen: Most of what we knew went away. Students were left alone doing the work. How do I think about what I’m doing when you’re not with me? A lot of those things became essential practices during Covid. A lot of people have appreciated the new approaches to teaching and didn’t realize they were doing them.
Blumenstyk: What are the risks to higher ed if it just reverts to back to normal this fall?
Bowen: We won’t be able to go back to any normal, but we have also known for years that disruption was coming. There has been a wave of different types of students coming at us. And there are fewer students graduating.
Students also have learned things during the pandemic. Half of students say they love online. Others want to get back in the classroom. Some said they want the ability to communicate privately with the professor during lecture. The chat feature in Zoom has been great. They say it allows them to do things in class they didn’t do before. Students will demand it.
This is one of those transition periods that people in the business world say is where you get winners and losers. Those that stay the same during a transition end up losing.
Blumenstyk: Institutions will fall behind their competitors that do adapt.
Bowen: I never taught fully online before. This was new for me. It’s hard.
Blumenstyk: What did you learn?
Bowen: First, the Zoom fatigue is real. I’m not looking at myself now. Looking at yourself in the mirror all day is weird and stressful, and we look for cues from students. It’s a lot more energy to teach online. It’s harder to figure out what students are getting or not getting. We don’t have the other relational stuff that happens.
I found myself looking for other ways to connect with students. I started showing up early or staying late. I would hang out. I wanted to hang out and talk to students.
It’s reasonable to say I just want to get back in the classroom. I do, too. But it doesn’t mean just going back to the way things were.
Blumenstyk: At the institutional level, what will it take to keep that momentum going?
Bowen: We have never made this large an investment in teaching as a higher-ed system in decades. We broke down a lot of barriers. Many people were willing to try new things. The teaching and learning centers went into overdrive. We have an opening. There is a tendency to say we want to go back to doing things the way we used to do them. We will really have to fight that. I don’t think it will work, and I don’t think students will stand for it.
I’m big on relationships, resilience, and reflection — my three R’s — but even I thought it was weird to call my students on the phone until this year. I would just call and check in. I said if they didn’t want that, let me know. Not one single student said they didn’t want that. I would just check in. Students massively appreciated that human connection.
Blumenstyk: Another big issue that’s come up is inclusive teaching. It’s been an aspiration up to now. When we think about the fractures in our society, what’s risky for institutions if they don’t do this?
Bowen: One reason that good teaching has to stay at the center is that a lot of inclusive teaching is just good teaching. The tools advance equity and inclusion. Things like rubrics, transparency, more communication, demonstrating that you care; those things don’t hurt anybody.
We have not recognized, until recently, the depth of the inequity on our campuses. I often encounter people who say they teach content. Sure, you do. But I have never encountered a math or science problem about a José when I was in school. I have the most common name in Spanish, but I never heard a word problem where José and Juan were dividing the apples.
I think colleges have to put equity at the center of strategic plans. If it’s not at the center, it won’t happen. You are missing an opportunity and somebody else will get there.
