{"id":86,"date":"2016-07-29T10:24:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T14:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elligoudzwaard.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2018-02-15T13:46:44","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T18:46:44","slug":"hospitality-in-the-learning-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elligoudzwaard.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/29\/hospitality-in-the-learning-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitality in the Learning Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we talk about improving teaching and learning, the focus is often on moving beyond the content-is-king approach to consider more deeply who our learners are and which methods\u00a0will most effectively facilitate learning. Widening the lens on teaching to include these elements is often the work of\u00a0instructional designers and faculty developers. Our tool kits contain\u00a0tips about learning styles,\u00a0adaptive technology, age appropriateness, session objectives\u00a0and everything in between. But there is one thing we rarely discuss, something so\u00a0simple\u00a0on the surface\u00a0that it\u2019s often an oversight but can, I think, make or break a learning experience. It\u2019s\u00a0teaching as an act of hospitality.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about concierge education or luxury\u00a0service. I mean hospitality in the sense of generous reception and attentive hosting. I\u2019m talking about the way we treat our friends and family when they arrive in our homes, with acknowledgement of their needs, orientation to their surroundings and information about what to expect.<\/p>\n

In the classroom or learning space, what might this look like? I take my cues here from my own experiences as a student in both hospitable and inhospitable learning spaces. I remember a final math exam during winter term in high school in a room without heat, and a teacher\u2019s irritation in fifth grade when I interrupted her lesson by needing\u00a0a tissue. I remember a grad school professor who always wrote the day\u2019s plan on the board, and the first time a college prof asked us all to introduce ourselves. These moments stick with me not for their significance in my life but for the way they made me feel as a person. We forget, I think, amidst the demands and challenges of teaching, that our students are first and foremost human beings.<\/p>\n

A little refresher:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While Maslow defined\u00a0this basic hierarchy of needs to understand human motivation, I\u2019m interested in how the stages of the pyramid\u00a0inform, facilitate or hinder learning. How well can we take in new information\u00a0when we are hungry, freezing, or overwhelmed?\u00a0How\u00a0creative can we be\u00a0if we\u2019re feeling unsafe? How does our ability to learn expand and contract in response to social cues?\u00a0Eric Jensen\u2019s book,\u00a0Teaching With the Brain in Mind<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0is an excellent resource in this regard and covers everything from basic biological needs like\u00a0food and water to the importance of rest and reflection, the impact of fluorescent lightning and the need for movement at different ages.<\/p>\n

From my own tool kit as a learning experience designer, here are some\u00a0simple things we can do as educators to take human needs into account:<\/p>\n

Physiology:\u00a0Orient yourself and your students to the physical space and their physical needs.<\/p>\n