Unpaid Labor
For many being at home entails additional responsibilities that normally do not coexist with school. Similar to women faculty, women students often find themselves assuming the greater share of domestic and caregiving responsibilities. A recent article in the journal Nature describes the imbalanced consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in women’s academic productivity (Minello, 2020). When students go home, they return to the life that they would have before they were students. This is not business as usual some of those students came from circumstances where they have great family responsibility. The children of essential workers and first responders find themselves caring for younger siblings, the elderly relatives or the sick. Not only is this emotionally draining, but good caregiving is time consuming and physically demanding. In other cases, the student or a relative may be immunocompromised or have other comorbidities that put them at high risk. For the students whose parents are essential workers or first responders there is the consistent worry that these individuals who are doing the work to keep the rest of us safe and healthy may themselves be in harm’s way or become ill because of their profession.
Depending on the severity, all the previously mentioned circumstances (untreated mental illness, anxiety, food insecurity, homelessness, physical and mental abuse, racial discrimination, poverty) can be traumatic to students. Employing the principles of trauma-informed teaching can help students to less susceptible to their problematic circumstances (Carello, 2015). Trauma-informed teaching centers around five fundamental principles a) ensuring safety, b) establishing trustworthiness, c) maximizing choice, d) maximizing collaboration, and d) prioritizing empowerment. These elements can be integrated into online and/or face-to-face teaching to promote a more inclusive environment for all students.