Teaching in Higher Ed Kindness and Community in an Online Asynchronous Classroom
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Sep 4, 2025 Seth Offenbach, an associate professor at Bronx Community College and author, discusses the importance of kindness in online asynchronous classrooms. He emphasizes creating a safe space for students, especially during challenging times like the pandemic. Offenbach highlights evolving teaching methods that prioritize empathy while maintaining academic rigor. He advocates for flexible deadlines, noting that understanding students’ realities fosters success. The conversation also touches on thoughtful syllabus design and promoting meaningful engagement in virtual learning.
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Kindness Enables, Not Dilutes, Rigor
- Kindness in teaching doesn't mean making courses easier; it means removing unnecessary stressors while keeping intellectual challenge.
- Seth Offenbach reframes kindness as support that enables learning rather than lowered expectations.
Pandemic Prompted A Kindness Shift
- The pandemic forced Seth to move online and rethink pedagogy for students whose lives made the course a secondary priority.
- He combined inspiration from Radical Hope and The Pedagogy of Kindness to center empathy in course design.
Use Equity Tools To Rethink Syllabi
- Use resources like the social justice syllabus tool, equity syllabus, and liquid syllabus to redesign course documents.
- Make syllabus language explicit about support and flexible policies to reduce student intimidation.
