The Humanizing Power of Narrative in Academic EFL Teaching as Response to COVID-19 Post-pandemic Education Challenges

Aleksandra Łukaszyk-Spryszak, Anna Sańczyk-Cruz

Abstract


The COVID-19 pandemic enforced rapid changes in teaching methodology, practically revising the widely applied academic practices and traditional approaches. Upon entering the spaces of classrooms after demanding remote learning, academic teachers and students encounter several challenges that pertain to building humanizing learning environments, as times differ from those before the pandemic. Therefore, promoting humanizing pedagogy in higher education is critically needed right now. The purpose of the article is to detail theoretical and practical solutions for academic teachers to inspire them to implement a narrative approach in their academic classrooms. Empirical studies support that when humanizing pedagogy is put into practice, it can strengthen reflective and dialogic approaches to teaching English, including teaching a specialist language. The practical suggestions on how to implement these approaches into teaching EFL and ESP in the context of Polish higher education distinctively show the potential of narratives and storytelling as didactic tools translating into an opportunity to design modern, high-quality English language courses.


Keywords


EFL teaching; higher education; humanizing pedagogy; narrative approach

Full Text:

PDF

References


Altay, B. (2013). User-Centered Design through Learner-Centered Instruction. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(2), 138–155. DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2013.827646

Babaii, E., Yazdanpanah, Z. (2010). Towards Self-Expression in L2 Classrooms: The Effect of Explicit Teaching of Story Structures on EFL Learners’ Narrative Ability. Asian EFL Journal, 44, 4–19.

Bartolomé, L. (1994). Beyond the Methods Fetish: Toward a Humanizing Pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 64(2), 173–195. DOI: 10.17763/haer.64.2.58q5m5744t325730

Burk, N.M. (1997). Using Personal Narratives as a Pedagogical Tool: Empowering Students through Stories. National Communication Association. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED415560

Carter Andrews, D.J., Castillo, B. (2016). Humanizing Pedagogy for Examinations of Race and Culture in Teacher Education. In: F. Tuitt, C. Haynes, S. Stewart (Eds.), Race, Equity and Higher Education: The Continued Search for Critical and Inclusive Pedagogies around the Globe (pp. 112–128). Sterling: Stylus.

Charon, R. (2006). Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chen, T., Lucock, M. (2022). The Mental Health of University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online Survey in the UK. PLoS One, 17. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262562

Choudhury, D., Nortjé, N. (2022). The Hidden Curriculum and Integrating Cure- and Care-Based Approaches to Medicine. HEC Forum, 34, 41–53. DOI: 10.1007/s10730-020-09424-6

Clark, M.C., Rossiter, M. (2008). Narrative Learning in the Adult Classroom. Retrieved from https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2008/papers/13

Crisol-Moya, E., Romero-López, M.A., Caurcel-Cara, M.J. (2020). Active Methodologies in Higher Education: Perception and Opinion as Evaluated by Professors and Their Students in the Teaching-Learning Process. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01703

Easton, G. (2016). How Medical Teachers Use Narratives in Lectures: A Qualitative Study. BMC Medical Education, 16, 1–12. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-015-0498-8

Fojkar, M.D., Skela, J., Kovac, P. (2013). A Study of the Use of Narratives in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Young Learners. English Language Teaching, 6(6), 21–28. DOI: 10.5539/elt.v6n6p21

Fránquiz, M.E. (2012). Key Concepts in Bilingual Education: Identity Texts, Cultural Citizenship, and Humanizing Pedagogy. New England Reading Association Journal, 48, 32–42.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Gehlbach, H., Brinkworth, M.E., King, A.M., Hsu, L.M., … Rogers, T. (2016). Creating Birds of Similar Feathers: Leveraging Similarity to Improve Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 342–352. DOI: 10.1037/edu0000042

Global Education Coalition. (2020). Coalición Mundial para la Educación de la UNESCO. Retrieved from https://es.unesco.org/covid19/globaleducationcoalition

Goh, P.S.C. (2019). Implementing Narrative-Pedagogical Approaches in a Teacher Education Classroom. The Qualitative Report, 24(7), 1731–1746. DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3869

Grant, G. (1979). On Competence: A Critical Analysis of Competence-Based Reforms in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED176647

Groopman, J. (2022). Part of Being a Good Doctor. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/25/why-storytelling-is-part-of-being-a-good-doctor-all-that-moves-us-jay-wellons

Haque, O.S., Waytz, A. (2012). Dehumanization in Medicine: Causes, Solutions, and Functions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(2), 176–186. DOI: 10.1177/1745691611429706

Harasim, L. (2017). Learning Theory and Online Technologies. New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315716831

Hativa, N. (2000). Teaching Methods for Active Learning. In: Teaching for Effective Learning in Higher Education (pp. 111–129). Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-0902-7_8

Juškevičienė, A., Nedzinskaitė, R. (2013). Modern Education and Narrative Pedagogy. Education in a Changing Society, 2(1), 18–22.

Kang, J.Y. (2004). Telling a Coherent Story in a Foreign Language: Analysis of Korean EFL Learners’ Referential Strategies in Oral Narrative Discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(11), 1975–1990. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2004.03.007

Karbalaei, A. (2012). Critical Thinking and Academic Achievement. Íkala, revista de lenguaje y cultura, 17, 121–128.

Lee, J., Solomon, M., Stead, T., Kwon, B., Ganti, L. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of US College Students. BMC Psychology, 9, 1–10. DOI: 10.1186/s40359-021-00598-3

Linde, P. (2022). Hippie Docs 2.0: Re-Humanizing Medicine. Retrieved from https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hippie-docs-2-0-re-humanizing-medicine/id1532873214

Lugossy, R. (2006). Shaping Teachers’ Beliefs through Narratives. In: M. Nikolov, J. Horváth (Eds.), Empirical Studies in English Applied Linguistics (pp. 313–336). Pécs: Lingua franca Csoport.

Marek, L., Polenta, S., Warzocha, T. (2022). Academic Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic – Polish and Italian Experience. Adult Education Discourses, 22, 177–182.

Marinoni, G., Land, H. van’t, Jensen, T. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education around the World. Paris: IAU.

Mathias, T., Soni, R. (2019). Clinic Waiting Room in Harlem Becomes Experiment in Humanizing Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-narrative-children-idUSKBN1YL2FT

No Putting a Shirt On. (2020). Mastectomy Tattoos with Artist Amy Black. Retrieved from https://notputtingonashirt.org/2020/08/30/mastectomy-tattoos-with-artist-amy-black

O’Mochain, R. (2009). Discussing Gender and Sexuality in a Context-Appropriate Way: Queer Narratives in an EFL College Classroom in Japan. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 5(1), 51–66. DOI: 10.1207/s15327701jlie0501_4

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2012). Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies. New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780203095966

Pardo, B. (2014). Digital Storytelling: A Case Study of the Creation, and Narration of a Story by EFL Learners. Digital Education Review, 26, 74–84.

Peercy, M.M., Tigert, J., Fredricks, D., Kidwell, T., … Lawyer, M.D. (2022). From Humanizing Principles to Humanizing Practices: Exploring Core Practices as a Bridge to Enacting Humanizing Pedagogy with Multilingual Students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 113. DOI: 10.1016/j.tate.2022.103653

Perspektywy. (2021). Ranking kierunków studiów. Retrieved from https://2021.ranking.perspektywy.pl/ranking/ranking-kierunkow-studiow/kierunki-medyczne-i-o-zdrowiu/kierunek-lekarski

Porto, M., Rosas, A.S. (2017). Developing Quality Education through Imaginative Understanding Using Literature. In: D.L. Banegas, M. López-Barrios, M. Porto, D. Waigandt (Eds.), Authenticity in ELT: Selected Papers from the 42nd FAAPI Conference (pp. 64–74). Posadas: APIM.

Rossiter, M. (2002). Narrative and Stories in Adult Teaching and Learning. ERIC Digest.

Salazar, M. (2013). A Humanizing Pedagogy: Reinventing the Principles and Practice of Education as a Journey Toward Liberation. Review of Research in Education, 37(1), 121–148. DOI: 10.3102/0091732X12464032

Sinha, A.A., Diacovo, A. (2020). The Waiting Room: A Space for Self-Expression in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting. Pediatrics, 145. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2019-3303

Strydom, A., Herman, N., Adendorff, H., De Klerk, M. (2020). Responding to the Necessity for Change: Higher Education Voices from the South during the COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.sun.ac.za/english/learning-teaching/ctl/Documents/Responding

Szurmak, J., Thuna, M. (2013). Tell Me a Story: The Use of Narrative as a Tool for Instruction. Retrieved from https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/18134/SzurmakThuna_TellMe.pdf?sequence=1

Tilak, J.B., Kumar, A.G. (2022). Policy Changes in Global Higher Education: What Lessons Do We Learn from the COVID-19 Pandemic? Higher Education Policy, 35, 610–628. DOI: 10.1057/s41307-022-00266-0

UNESCO. (2021). UNESCO Figures Show Two Thirds of an Academic Year Lost on Average Worldwide Due to COVID-19 School Closures. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-figures-show-two-thirds-academic-year-lost-average-worldwide-due-covid-19-school

Wieser, D., Seeler, J.M. (2018). Online, Not Distance Education: The Merits of Collaborative Learning in Online Education. In: A. Altmann, B. Ebersberger, C. Mössenlechner, D. Wieser (Eds.), The Disruptive Power of Online Education (pp. 125–146). Bingley: Emerald Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1108/978-1-78754-325-620181008

Yakovleva, N.O., Yakovlev, E.V. (2014). Interactive Teaching Methods in Contemporary Higher Education. Pacific Science Review, 16(2), 75–80. DOI: 10.1016/j.pscr.2014.08.016

Zinn, D., Adam, K., Kurup, R., Plessis, A. du (2016). Returning to the Source: Reflexivity and Transformation in Understanding a Humanizing Pedagogy. Educational Research for Social Change, 5(1), 70–93.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/en.2023.8.243-257
Date of publication: 2023-11-01 15:56:50
Date of submission: 2022-11-02 10:33:23


Statistics


Total abstract view - 458
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska, sectio N – Educatio Nova

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.