Swerve & Shift: The lived experience of Canadian faculty teaching through a pandemic

Authors

  • Maggie McDonnell Concordia University
  • Erin Reid University of Lethbridge

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v58i2.10109

Keywords:

pandemic, communities of practice, emergency teaching, remote teaching, higher education

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which began to affect Canadian universities and colleges in March 2020, educators were asked to make a sudden transition, or swerve, to teaching remotely. Subsequently, these same teachers made the shift to teaching remotely longer term, through the fall and winter of 2020-21; the pandemic continued to affect higher education into 2022. Through interactive interviews, the authors have woven together the individual experiences of teachers in higher education across Canada, and found that these teachers faced unprecedented challenges, as well as unimagined silver linings. Based on Porges’ (1995) model of polyvagal theory, the authors suggest that digital communities of practice (Donaldson 2020) provided a muchneeded site of social engagement to mitigate trauma in these unprecedented times.

Author Biographies

Maggie McDonnell, Concordia University

is currently Coordinator of Composition and the Professional Writing minor in the English Department of Concordia University. She also teaches in the Master Teacher program of l'Université de Sherbrooke. Her research explores teacher identity and development in higher education. 

Erin Reid, University of Lethbridge

is an Assistant Professor (Social Justice) in the Faculty of Education at St. Mary's University in Calgary, Alberta. Her research interests examine the intersection of religious literacy, teacher education, and social justice. She is a co-founder and Director of Learning for the Centre for Civic Religious Literacy where she leads the Civic Literacy Youth Network, an online network for youth across Canada to gain leadership skills to address issues related to discrimination, religious literacy, and all aspects of identity, including gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, and linguistic background.

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Published

2024-09-20

How to Cite

McDonnell, M., & Reid, E. (2024). Swerve & Shift: The lived experience of Canadian faculty teaching through a pandemic. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 58(2), 11–33. https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v58i2.10109

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