Most of us in education have, at some point, found a meaningful connection with our work as a way of serving society and others. But in the dregs of winter, when a commute to campus might be embellished with slushy ice or mud, and the rush of the start of a new semester has worn off, aspirational goals of improving the "greater good" can feel out of reach.
Luckily, we have colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, who run the Greater Good Science Center. In this center, research from sociology, psychology, and neuroscience investigating the concept of well-being is both fostered through research fellowships and translated into applications for the broader public. This website is a treasure trove of resources to better understand "science based practices for a meaningful life."
While the Hub does hope to contribute to a larger culture of faculty well-being, our wheelhouse is where this intersects with the teaching space. And in that regard, the Greater Good Science Center also supports teachers at all levels with practical resources: Greater Good in Education. I hope you'll take a look and peek around at what they have to offer, and not stop at the threshold of their K-12 focus. They have a huge catalog of practices that support student and instructor well-being at every level. In fact, you can filter activities to only show you ones they think will work at the college level. There are also filters on how much time each activity can take.
I've selected three examples here that I think could work across a variety of classes and disciplines. All of the resources explain how to prepare for the activity, how to conduct it, and what research on well-being is behind the activity.
Got 15 minutes? Try this Affirming Important Values activity. You just need something to write with! (This can also be good for yourself after an intense teaching experience)
Got 30 minutes of class time? Consider letting your students Practice Shallow vs. Deep Curiosity. You might have to adjust the prompt slightly if you want the questions they practice with to be content specific, but it might be just as helpful to practice with the "intro" questions included.
Have up to an hour? You might want to have your students Contemplate the Awe-Inspiring Systems they are learning about in your class. Here at mid semester when we're often really getting into the nitty gritty of challenging concepts, a step back to marvel at the fact we're in a position to know so much about our world could feel really nice.
These resources tend to prioritize a face-to-face learning environment. Those of you teaching online at this point have so much experience, I'm confident you can find a way to modify these to your online learning space, if you so choose. Of course, the Hub is always ready to have a chat about how to implement these or other teaching ideas into your classes! You can make an appointment with the first available instructional designer, or even fill out a form if you want us to reach out to you and set up a conversation.
