The Resilient Pedagogy podcast with your host, Travis Thurston. Hey everybody, I'm Travis Thurston, and I'll be your host for the Resilient Pedagogy podcast. I'm the Director for the Office of empowering Teaching Excellence at Utah State University, and I'm the lead editor of the recently published book "Resilient pedagogy: Practical teaching strategies to overcome distance, disruption, and distraction." I just want to give you a brief introduction into resilient pedagogy and introduce the podcast. On each episode, I'll be inviting authors from the different chapters in the book, ask for them to reflect on what resilient pedagogy means to them, and they will key in on some specific aspects of the chapters from the book. We'll also have some special guests to share their insights on overcoming distance, disruption, and distraction. So, since I will be asking each of our guests, what resilient pedagogy means to them. I felt like it was appropriate for me to start the podcast by sharing with you what resilient pedagogy means to me. In my introduction to the book, I share that resilient pedagogy isn't a silver bullet. It's not a cure for the trauma for everything that we've gone through with COVID-19 and social justice movements, but I do think resilient pedagogy centers on believing in a brighter future. It's been helpful for me to remember that teaching is not only an act of radical hope, like I learned from Kevin Gannon's book, but also it's an act of care. As the amazing bell hooks so eloquently put it, "when teachers teach with love. Combining care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust. We're often able to enter the classroom and go straight to the heart of the matter, which is knowing what to do on any given day, to create the best climate for learning." I love that quote. For me, it means the work of resilient pedagogy, makes us vulnerable to heartache, to dissapointment, because we know we can create a better future for our students, one interaction at a time. But of course, we are going to fail along the way. It means that we recognize the inequities that exist in our current structures. We not only worked to adapt and transform those structures but continue to visualize how that architecture will need to take shape and be molded moving forward. It's hard and it's tedious, and the work of resilient pedagogy is messy, iterative, continuously reflective as we try to emphasize process over product. I also point out in my introduction to the collection, writing about Ted Lasso, this show, where the main character learns about this phrase "it's the hope that kills you". And for many of us who strive to improve learning for students and who wants to be better teachers, because we want to make a difference. Sometimes we do feel like this work is, is hopeless. Right, there's just so much to do.
But in that show the character Ted Lasso, he talks about how he believes in the people around him. He believes that they'll succeed if they believe in each other. And although it can seem a bit cliche, he does go on to challenge this idea by saying "it's the lack of hope, that comes to get you". And for me, that phrase captures my view of resilient pedagogy. We have to acknowledge the inequities, the struggles, and our own failings, to provide a frame for us to see where we can continue to improve. But we can't stop at simply acknowledging the issues before us, we have to take action. And that is the work of resilient pedagogy, and I hope that our book, and specifically I hope that this podcast, not only frames areas where we should focus on improvement that also provides helpful strategies to support the work that actually lies ahead of us. And I have to believe that regardless of the role that I or anyone else plays in teaching and learning, that resilient pedagogy, really is a radical act of hope and care. And I believe that resilient pedagogy is meaningful, because it's a commitment to supporting students. It's a commitment to supporting teachers. And really it's a commitment to supporting each other. One small step at a time. As we engage in this work together. And with that, I hope you enjoy the resilient pedagogy podcast.