Many instructors have experienced an increase in teaching-related. Some instructors also may be experiencing additional vulnerability in this historical moment because of their course content and/or because they hold identities or are in communities being targeted by racist, xenophobic, or other forms of discriminatory public discourse and action. If you are experiencing this additional vulnerability, centering self and community care might be the most important action. Below are some ways instructors have been caring for themselves and connecting with community.

Self-care strategies

Connect with identity-specific community. For many Black, Indigenous, and POC faculty and GEs, being with other BIPOC academics and accessing resources made by BIPOC academics has been necessary. If you are looking for community on campus, consider exploring if you haven't yet one of the Division of Equity and Inclusion's Strategies and Working Groups, which include the Asian, Desi, and Pacific Islander Strategies Group (ADPI), Black Strategies Group, LatinX Strategies Group, Native American Strategies Group, and Deconstructing Whiteness Working Group. There are two groups related to disability and neurodivergence: the Employee Disability and Neurodiversity Affinity Group (EDNA) and the Neurodivergent Instructors and Staff Affinity group. The Division of Equity and Inclusion offers additional opportunities for community as well.

Plan flexibility into your schedule. We encourage looking at your schedule surrounding an election and identifying what meetings and teaching responsibilities are not crucial. Cut what you can. Building in a decrease in workload may make more space to reflect or just to provide breathing room during a demanding term.  

Access resources that support mental and emotional health. Most of us can use mental health support from time to time. If you are not linked to mental health services but are interested in talking with a professional, GEs can contact Counseling Services; faculty and staff can contact Cascade Centers. Additionally, check with HR or your medical provider for other options. 

Plan places to process your emotions. If you haven’t already, identify people you can contact to discuss your feelings about elections—even plan for when you’ll connect. Many of us want to bring ourselves as humans to our classes—including indicating that we have feelings or thoughts around big events. However, our students are not the people we want to process raw feelings and thoughts with actively and externally.

Take time in class to pause, reroute, or stop the direction of a conversation if you need to. While discussions around elections and civic engagement are important in a variety of contexts, if a discussion becomes too heated or harmful to facilitate—for you personally or for students—you can always pause, reroute, or stop that conversation. Some instructors do this by:

• Asking students to pause and write down their thoughts about the initial goal of the conversation, what they are feeling in the moment, or some other invitation to reflection;
• Asking students to take a five-minute break (and taking one themselves);
• Acknowledging that they feel uncomfortable with what’s happening in the discussion ("I feel uncomfortable with how we're talking about X, and I want to shift us to Y for now").

Our emphasis here is not on an increase in the level of care, but in how we directly communicate that care.

Communicating care strategies

Verbalize care explicitly. We encourage faculty to normalize stress and express care. You might express the following ideas during class or in an Announcement through Canvas:

• Acknowledge the election may be a charged and stressful event, that political polarization—including our perceptions of being dehumanized based on our politics—is increasing, and that this is added on top of other difficult contexts. 
• Affirm that you care about all students’ wellbeing and learning, regardless of their political beliefs.
• Validate for students that prolonged stress impacts us all physiologically, affecting our physical and mental health (and our learning process). Normalize that threat responses are frequently autonomic—they are involuntary. We strive to cope with them, but we don’t control them.

Post a list of UO resources for students; two pre-made resources in Canvas Commons* include the Student Wellbeing Resources Page and the Student Support Resources page (part of the Welcome Module). Consider reminding students that Counseling Services is a good resource to access in any season, that it is free for students, and that students can get a same-day appointment.

Create and communicate schedule flexibility during election week. Assess workload during the week of the election and whether it’s possible to make deadlines more flexible. This can also be done with student input.

Acknowledge overwhelm and express care right after the election. At the beginning of the first class or asynchronous content after election day, it might be appropriate to provide students with a short moment of reflection, perhaps using a set of guided prompts, before you move forward in the usual way. A simple acknowledgement of elections, their stakes, and the sense of overwhelm that people may be feeling can also be helpful. Learn more about trauma-informed pedagogies that support learning for all, including students experiencing overwhelm, on our Trauma Informed Pedagogy page.  

Share something from another arena that brings you, as instructor, inspiration in difficulty or uncertainty. This could be a poem, music you play just prior to class, artwork, or a picture of your very cute dog. This brief openness communicates care; it also models a coping strategy centered on joy or inspiration. Consider asking students to do the same with each other (see the following section for ideas).

*Faculty and graduate students with at least one course can find out more about Canvas Commons, including how to access resources, by visiting the “Welcome to Canvas Commons” webpage.

We know metacognition is a powerful tool to help learning “stick” – metacognitive activities can connect to course content, as well as to the intersection of course content and elections. Metacognition also offers opportunities to have students participate in three types of coping strategies that increase self-efficacy: planning, support-seeking, and reframing. 

Below you will find possible prompts and activities to use in your classes which might support student engagement with course material address this political moment, and serve as coping strategies. In addition to these prompts, you may want to explore the Canvas Commons “Student Wellbeing Practices and Resources” module, which offers several activities students can choose from that support metacognition and connection.

Self-connection and metacognitive strategies

Possible metacognitive prompts include:

• When your stress levels are high, what actions and activities make you feel better? [Develop a list from student input]. What is one action or activity from our collaborative list that you haven’t tried but will attempt next week?  
• What hopes and fears do you have for this election or, if you’re not invested in the election, in this term? How do these hopes and fears intersect with our work in this class? What, if anything, can I and your peers do to support you around your hopes and fears?  
• What person or group can you contact if you need support with class content? How will you know if you need help, and how will you make that contact? What person or group might you contact if you need support due to stressors around the election? 
• How are you supporting those around you (in this class and outside of this class)? What is one new way you might offer support? 

You can encourage students to engage in reflecting on these prompts in a variety of ways, including both in person in the classroom and in asynchronous modes and through multiple means such as text, audio, or short video responses. We recommend emphasizing that the reflection is primarily for the student, that content will not be scored, and that only a student can choose to reference their own reflections in the class. As many instructors and students already have a full workload, we recommend keeping any requirements for completion short, so the emphasis is on engaging in meaningful metacognition, but not in completing an additional, involved assignment.

Examples for this type of engagement might include:   

• Reflection assignments. Reflection assignments can be as simple as responding briefly (a few sentences) to a weekly prompt or as elaborate as keeping a daily reflection log and periodically submitting a short summary of one’s reflections over a given time. Such assignments can be for credit/no credit or an option for participation points. Using the survey feature in Canvas can allow for anonymous submissions, yet still record who submits, if credit is being offered.  
• Discussion boards. A discussion board can provide students with a collaborative space for sharing reflections on use of resources, strategies, or opportunities for self-care or community engagement. The discussion board also allows students to see development and change in their group reflections over time.
• Journals. Use of journals can be a productive outlet for expressing feelings, ideas, questions, needs, or strategies one will pursue. It can be helpful to provide guided questions for student reflection, and this could take the form of a few new prompts each week or providing a longer list and having students choose a few to reflect on and write about at a time. Journals can be entirely optional, be completed for extra credit, or serve as an option for class participation. 

Peer-to-peer connection is key to supporting significant learning experiences; it is also a key coping strategy. It can be helpful to let students know you’re taking steps to enrich their opportunities for peer interaction during election season. 

Student connection strategies

Structure consistent, recurring moments where students can interact in small groups and share a bit about themselves as people (in addition to course-related learning). Instructors may choose to start each class with a question that students can consider in small groups (or, if asynchronous is preferable, using Canvas discussion boards). Examples of structures and question prompts can be found in Section 1 of the Teaching in Turbulent Times Toolkit, along with other strategies for building community.

Offer opportunities for students to identify what they value, what brings them relief, and what brings them joy. We can think of this as a very quick show and tell or brainstorm. The goal is both facilitating student connection as well as compiling a list of activities that peers might want to also engage in that may decrease stress. To do this, we would use a clear prompt, such as “What is one thing you’ve done in the last month that you really enjoyed or appreciated?” Answers might go into a shared document that students quickly populate in class, or they might post images, video, or text responding to a discussion question in Canvas.  

Create and use participation guidelines. If you haven’t yet, we recommend collaborating with students to develop guidelines for participation–sometimes called ground rules or class compacts. These can help everyone be more prepared for exploring challenging content, navigating difficult discussions. Identifying “protocols” around what the class can do if discussions get particularly heated is an additionally important step for classes right now. Details around creating and using guidelines and protocols, as well as other strategies around supporting student discussion, can be found in our Designing Discussions webpage. Strategies around facilitating during "hot" moments are included in Section 5 of the Teaching in Turbulent Times Toolkit.

Many people respond to stress or feelings of powerlessness by engaging in constructive or creative endeavors. This can include working with local public service organizations, becoming involved in advocacy or activism, or producing works of art or speculative ideas that influence and even transform how others think or feel.  

Many students already are engaged in work that is rooted in their values and their vision of what the world could be. Consider encouraging students to share (through discussion threads, small group conversations, or even a group document) one or two things they value most, and an example of a way they are already manifesting that value in their community, their research, their art, or any other area of their life. This can make existing connections within class more visible and allows students to potentially connect with others who are acting and creating in ways they’d like to learn more about.  

To help students determine whether such options are worthwhile, you can have them reflect on their aspirations, their hopes and dreams for the world, and how they envision bringing these to life or contributing to their development. This can take the form of a “letter to future self” or a visioning exercise – through writing, drawing, or other creative medium – in which they identify a future goal or possibility and outline a few steps for achieving it or conditions necessary for its realization, including at least one concrete action they can take now.  

For students seeking immediate action steps, opportunities for community engagement or creative expression are indicated below. 

Connect to community strategies

Public service in the community. The United Way of Lane County maintains a database of local volunteer and service opportunities with area nonprofit organizations.  The Great Nonprofits list  provides links to numerous local organizations with opportunities for volunteering and service. UO’s Holden Center for Leadership and Community Engagement is open Monday - Friday from 9am-5pm and offers a comprehensive leadership and community engagement resource guide.

Supporting causes and activism. There are numerous student-led organizations offering opportunities to get involved.

Pursuing artistic endeavors and creative work. The UO Craft Center offers students many opportunities to develop and refine a host of artistic and craft skills.

There can be good reasons to bring the election into a class for consideration as an object of inquiry, research, or discussion. For instance, key course topics may include important issues at stake in the election, and candidates’ positions on these issues might provide illustrative case studies or scenarios for analysis. Or it may be that certain policy decisions that result from the election will influence the future direction of the discipline. It may even be important to you to foster skills of democratic participation such as respectful dialogue, sound argumentation, and informed analysis. Whatever the reason may be, if you are asking students to engage with the election in the course, make the purpose and goals around the engagement clear, ensure they're connected to the goals of your course, and provide the supports needed to stay in productive conversation. 

In addition to the strategies below, consider the six principles on our Teaching in Contexts of Turbulence Resource Guide and the discussion supports mentioned in our Designing Discussions page.

Connect to course content strategies

Be aware of stakes and acknowledge potential impacts. Elections can produce strong feelings for many people, though the stakes involved and potential impacts for people vary. These differences matter. For instance, for some students and instructors alike, an election heightens attention to their social identities and positions them even more prominently as targets of negative representations, threats, and violence. To be asked to engage an election in some manner in class can exacerbate students’ feelings of vulnerability and put them into potentially harmful interactions. It helps to encourage students to be more attentive to their own feelings and to have empathy for the different stakes involved for others, however difficult this may be. One way to gauge what is at stake for students that you may not already be considering is to invite them to share with you any concerns they have about their participation in specific discussion or activities focused on the election (through a short anonymous survey, for example).  Also consider offering an alternative option that allows students to achieve the same learning goals.  

Identify the learning objective for the conversation clearly. Instructors can also ask students if there is anything they’d like to add to the learning outcome prior to talking. It may be supportive to post that collaborative learning objective or goal somewhere visible, so the class can keep this shared goal in mind. This also supports instructors in ensuring that they can articulate a goal for the conversation. A struggle to do this is frequently an indicator that either it does not align with what our students need, or that the structure we’ve built is not yet strong enough to support our students as they engage. 

Avoid embedding assumptions about student voting eligibility into discussions or activities. Many UO students are not eligible to vote in US elections, for a variety of reasons, and as instructors, we will not know conclusively whether all students in our class are eligible (nor should we ask). Discussions of or activities connected to voting are important, and we appreciate that instructors engage content in this way. Depending on the learning objective or goal of the activity, you may want to 1) ensure there is a way to engage and contribute even for students who are not eligible and b) briefly acknowledge that we are not all able to vote in US elections. For example: "While we are discussing voting within the context of [insert course content/objective here] today, I know that not all UO students are eligible to vote in the US. Your voice and perspective is still a crucial part of this conversation." 

Communicate how student expression will/will not impact your assessment of them. Students may perceive risk in how they engage with peers around the election; they also will understandably perceive risk in terms of how their engagement will be seen and assessed by their instructors. It’s important to let them know the connections they draw and the perspectives they hold are and are not part of what we are assessing. 

Identify clear parameters for expression of individual opinions or positions. Bringing the election into a class opens a door for students to express their opinions or political positions, which may not be the objective you intend or may lead to divisive and unproductive interaction. It is therefore important to determine if or to what extent individual opinions or political views contribute to the goals of the discussion, and then to articulate parameters for how and when to share them. 

Encourage democratic dialogue. Engaging with others in collaborative discussion and scrutiny of different perspectives is a hallmark of democratic participation. Even if development of democratic dialogue is not an explicit course goal, instructors can still foster important skills of democratic participation when asking students to engage charged topics like the election. Naming these skills and having students practice them and then reflect on their interactions can generate more productive dialogue. Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill have identified several important benefits of learning through democratic discussion and specific discussion dispositions that underpin democratic engagement, which can be called up for students to practice and reflect upon.

Support discussions with specific types of structured discussion activities. When topics are challenging, a higher level of structure can be particularly valuable, and will support the practice of using discussion moves, adhering to conversation guidelines, and practicing democratic dialogue. Common discussion activities include jigsaw or structured academic controversy; there are, however, dozens of excellent and widely used structures like those on the School Reform Initiative’s  extensive list and those from Liberating Structures. 

Include a variety of perspectives. When engaging the election and considering specific issues or candidates, include a variety of different perspectives for students to engage. It is important that students have opportunity to interact with different ideas, give each perspective a fair and charitable hearing, and thereby establish well-informed views, especially if your course goals include development of skills such as critical thinking or ethical dialogue. Consideration of multiple perspectives also creates a more inclusive environment for student participation, allowing students to see themselves in some of the views under scrutiny and to give voice to their perspectives and reasoning. However, there may be certain ideas that are not up for consideration, for instance ideas that express hate or bias; in such cases, it is important to be explicit about parameters and why certain ideas or views are not open for inquiry (e.g. they are not in alignment with the University mission or are simply not up for debate in the scholarly field).