By Prof. Kathleen Elliott Vinson

With restrictions lifting and vaccines widely available, we emerge from the pandemic full of hope and possibilities for the upcoming academic year. Will we return to the ways things used to be? Was the old “normal” effective for all in the first place? What worked and what didn’t? Can the trauma of the past year provide opportunities for growth for faculty and students?

Let’s reflect on what we have learned from the unprecedented challenges of teaching and learning in a pandemic and any positive changes that should endure. Two psychologists, Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, coined the term “post-traumatic growth” to describe the phenomenon of positive effects on people that occur after experiencing challenging events. Studies have shown that a large number of people who have endured traumatic experiences are likely to experience post-traumatic growth in the aftermath. Following a traumatic event, opportunities for growth may be observed across numerous areas: changes in self-perception, changes in interpersonal relationships, and changes in one’s philosophy of life. Self-reflection is a key factor for facilitating post-traumatic growth.

Following the last academic pandemic year, students and faculty may have grown in the area of self-perception, resulting in a greater recognition of their own personal strength. We were bombarded with daily news reporting multiple crises: a health crisis, a financial crisis, racial injustice, and extreme political divide. Lines between work/school and home blurred, making it difficult to focus and be productive as we dealt with interruptions from others, technical issues, distractions, and non-stop screen time. We may have recognized our vulnerability and focused more on our well-being. We may have been more intentional about our work/life balance, been more creative, been more willing to offer and accept help, and employed stress-reduction techniques. We may have tried new recreational activities, adopted a new hobby, or learned a new skill.

Another challenge of the pandemic was isolation, and counterintuitively, the opportunity for growth in the areas of interpersonal relationships. Students beginning and continuing law school entirely online or learning while masked and socially distant in a classroom, required faculty and students to find ways to connect and build community to foster engagement, learning, well-being, and inclusiveness. Faculty and students utilized technology to create opportunities for connections with other students, the course content, and professors, such as: virtual office hours, online polls, sharing of screens, breakout rooms, chat dialogue, discussion boards, and perhaps even music playing at the start of class. Class participation may have increased as some introverted students felt more comfortable and willing to volunteer in a Zoom class than if they were in person in a large lecture hall. The convenience of virtual Zoom office hours may have provided more availability of professors and increased attendance. Sharing of screens may have increased the communication and clarity. Faculty may have adopted trauma-informed pedagogy in the design, content, and delivery of their course, keeping in mind students’ experiences and their effects on students. As a result faculty may have incorporated practices such as: creating a safe and inclusive learning space, encouraging community building, and being attentive and responsive. Faculty were more than a sage on the stage, serving as a mentor, coach, and role model.

Finally, we may have observed an opportunity for growth in our philosophy of life. We may have revised our priorities. We may have recognized options or possibilities that we had not previously considered or thought possible. For example, Zoom meetings and conferences may have been more efficient and convenient on Zoom than commuting to meet in person.
We certainly would have preferred not to have taught and learned in a pandemic and the seriousness of the negative consequences should not be minimized, including that some may have been more negatively affected than others. As we try to recover from the many traumas of the past year and assimilate back to teaching and learning, however, let’s reflect on the transformational opportunities they provided law students and faculty to experience post-traumatic growth. What, if any, positive changes will emerge?