Pandemic pedagogy from both sides of the screen: A Teacher/Scholar/Parent's reflections on online time

Abstract

Inspired by lessons hard won during a pandemic year spent simultaneously teaching university students online and parenting reluctant online learners at home, this article argues for a radical rethinking of course policies and practices that use normative interpretations and applications of time. Online composition pedagogy is built on paradoxical temporal models: the field's longstanding belief in process-oriented theories of writing demands a flexible, recursive understanding of time while the demonstrated benefits of online student engagement seem to require more rigidly temporal policies and methods, like regular, graded discussion boards. This article draws from Alison Kafer's concept of “crip time” and a year's worth of observation and practice to recommend that online teachers prioritize the narrative shape of their online classes. Such a reframing, I argue, may create not only more successful classes but more just and accessible ones.

Department(s)

English

Document Type

Article

DOI

10.1016/j.compcom.2022.102742

Keywords

Composition, Crip theory, Crip time, Disability studies, Discussion boards, Literature, Narrative time, Online pedagogy, Pandemic pedagogy

Publication Date

12-1-2022

Journal Title

Computers and Composition

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