9
Dana Grossman Leeman
James Altman
Introduction
What is the soul and how do we bring it to our work, relationships, and lives? How do we create courses for adult learners that connect with their souls and intellect, especially if we can neither succinctly define or operationalize the construct? The Merriam-Webster (2019) dictionary defines the soul as the spiritual, immortal, or immaterial part of a human being or animal. A secondary definition reveals that soul may constitute an emotional or intellectual energy that manifests in an individual’s artistic work. In her poem, Why I wake early, the late Mary Oliver (2004) reflected on the meaning and nature of the human soul and concluded that it was (mostly) unknowable. “…and what the soul is, also I believe I will never quite know. Though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking, touching, and loving (pp. 4-5). Despite the intangibility of the soul, maintaining the integrity of the learner’s soul and their internal emotional lives and regarding them with compassion and intentional kindness are very much our guiding principles in course design and teaching. Doing this is complicated; it is the creative challenge of our work, and the narrative of this chapter.
In their article, Engagement and kindness in digitally mediated learning with teachers, Cramp and Lamond (2016) chronicled the process by which they created an online module informed by the “principles of engagement, dialogue, and kindness at its center,” where educators have an obligation to “shape digital learning landscapes into equitable, human, and democratic environments” (pp. 1–2). In addition to those values and practices, we add that course design must contain empathic attunement to the holistic needs of the learner, establish a mutually respectful relationship between the learning experience designer and the professor, and create emotionally resonant educational experiences. Bell (2011), as cited in Cramp & Lamond (2016) stated that learning is emotional work, and that attunement to the learner’s needs and positionality is an act of kindness that does not diminish academic quality or rigor. This will be explored further in this chapter. Creating compassionate course design involves a parallel process, with the course designer empathically attuned to the professor and vice versa, and with both attuned to the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of the student.
There is much to consider when creating a course, and one might assume that the process begins with the curriculum. As course design commences, conversations in this phase begin with a review of the syllabus, or a preliminary map or outline that details the knowledge areas and topics to be covered, and the order in which they must be taught. Practically, the foundation is built. The curricular world has been mapped, and one refines that map (or not) over time as one teaches the course. This strategy might seem logical, for at least two