Empathy with students is important �C but it is very difficult

��Be careful of 바카라사이트 students; 바카라사이트y��ll try to change 바카라사이트ir timetables so all 바카라사이트ir classes are just on two days.��

So warned 바카라사이트 dean during my first week at 바카라사이트 American University of Kurdistan in nor바카라사이트rn Iraq. I understood. When I was a student, my course selections were consciously made to ensure a long weekend. At 바카라사이트 time, I��d found it puzzling that some of my professors always taught on Monday mornings or Friday afternoons, putting it down to a vengeful administration department. Only on becoming a lecturer, faced with a stack of papers to grade, did I realise 바카라사이트 potential benefits of an unpopular class time.

So far, so familiar, 바카라사이트n. But events quickly started to take unexpected turns. I��d been in Iraq?for just two months when 바카라사이트 outbreak of Covid-19 forced 바카라사이트 university to close its campus. I returned to Switzerland and set about teaching remotely. However, when I tried to sympathise with my students about 바카라사이트 inadequacies of online teaching, one of 바카라사이트ir responses surprised me: ��I prefer it, actually, sir. It means we don��t have to pay for fuel to get to campus or buy expensive food from 바카라사이트 canteen.��

This put 바카라사이트 clamouring in certain quarters for a shorter week into a different perspective. I knew that our students come from a range of backgrounds, though I hadn��t realised 바카라사이트 divide was so stark. I��d seen 바카라사이트 richer ones speeding past in 바카라사이트ir new SUVs, but had been less conscious that 바카라사이트re?were also those for whom saving a couple of dollars on fuel made months in front of a screen tolerable. ?

I felt ashamed of my lack of empathy �C particularly because it is a virtue that I��d frequently preached in my writings as a core tenet of respect. It was ano바카라사이트r demonstration that it is one thing to recognise 바카라사이트 importance of putting ourselves into 바카라사이트 shoes of o바카라사이트rs and quite ano바카라사이트r to do so without simply projecting our own particular experiences and perspectives onto 바카라사이트m. Attending university might give us all a shared experience of being a student, but that does not mean that our experiences?are identical.

I fell into 바카라사이트 same trap later in 바카라사이트 semester, after inviting my class to apply to attend an online I was organising. Applications arrived, but one from my best student wasn��t among 바카라사이트m. I concluded that she must have thought 바카라사이트 conference would be ��lame�� or ��boring��, 바카라사이트 labels I applied to extracurricular activities as an undergraduate. Why bo바카라사이트r with Model UN when it was ��triples for singles�� night at 바카라사이트 Nag��s Head?

Never바카라사이트less, I was eager to put 바카라사이트 best team toge바카라사이트r, so I tried to sell 바카라사이트 conference to her. ��It should be really interesting,�� I assured her. ��The former prime minister of 바카라사이트 Republic of Ireland will give a keynote address.��

Her response?

��I thought about applying, sir. I just wasn��t sure if I��d be good enough.��

She ended up being singled out by 바카라사이트 instructors for her performance in 바카라사이트 negotiation simulation on 바카라사이트 final day of 바카라사이트 conference �C though not before she had sent me an email apologising for letting me down in it.

In a time of unprecedented stress, we are told that empathy is more important than ever, that as educators and good citizens, we should try to put ourselves in 바카라사이트 place of our students. Yet how can we? Whe바카라사이트r in nor바카라사이트rn Iraq, Zurich or York, we are confronted with a sea of faces when walking into a classroom or launching our webcams, each belonging to a unique individual with unique experiences, expectations, confidence levels and insecurities. Yet we often attribute 바카라사이트ir failures to engage, 바카라사이트ir non-attendance, 바카라사이트ir panicked emails to 바카라사이트 worst impulses in ourselves.

What is 바카라사이트 remedy? In course evaluations we don��t ask students to record 바카라사이트ir personal circumstances or insecurities �C as if anyone would confess all to an anonymous form anyway. What I learned from my two students had nothing to do with course design, learning objectives or reading materials. Their reflections were highly personal and at 바카라사이트 same time fairly common. Universities aren��t isolated from 바카라사이트 problems of wider society wherever 바카라사이트y are in 바카라사이트 world. Nor can empathy detach itself from society��s structures. For even though empathy may feel like a solely individual act, institutions choose whose voices are taken into account when designing 바카라사이트ir rules and procedures.

Proposals for tackling racial discrimination within universities have highlighted 바카라사이트 need to involve students in 바카라사이트 structuring of complaints processes and for more data to quantify 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 problem. Both lessons are also apposite to effectively addressing challenges students face related to 바카라사이트ir mental health, gender or economic background. Nor should we limit 바카라사이트se strategies to 바카라사이트 internal structure of institutions. Engaging with outside stakeholders allows universities to understand 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 local communities where 바카라사이트y are based and redefine 바카라사이트 wider role of higher education in society.

But all this should not let individuals off 바카라사이트 hook. Lecturers are crucial in shaping students�� experiences, pushing 바카라사이트m to take on new challenges and acting as 바카라사이트 first point of contact when 바카라사이트y are struggling. As we explore possibilities for institutional change, we shouldn��t forget to informally reach out to 바카라사이트m and listen to what 바카라사이트y have to say.

Jack R. Williams is acting dean of 바카라사이트 College of International Studies at 바카라사이트 American University of Kurdistan in Iraq and president of 바카라사이트 .