Festival of Learning 2018

In this studio style session, participants will collaboratively design, draw and assemble a shared toolkit in the form of a deck of cards reflecting on aspects of instructor self-care (or lack thereof) in their learning and teaching practices.

“Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others”. How can educators take care of their students, if educators do not first take care of themselves? This activity is designed to help educators discover and prioritize their self-care needs. In this increasingly complex world, staying mindful of personal and professional priorities comes with challenges that we educators share. Indeed, some of these self-care challenges may be universal issues across disciplines.

Iconographies attempt to convey meanings that are universal in human experience. Whether it’s a sports brands’ swoosh, an emoji in your text message or to gender identify public washrooms, we engage with these sorts of ‘visual shorthand’ daily. We use them to convey complex information to each other, and we are well equipped to use such iconography in our own daily practices at work, in the office or classroom.

Card decks are a popular product for facilitating learning through storytelling and play. (Eg. Group Works deck, Dixit Cards, Tarot cards etc) Most card decks allow users a multitude of affordances from the “drawing a card”, to more complex and customizable interactions. In this way they are ideal for guided reflections.

Jason Toal, M.A. and Jessica Motherwell McFarlane, Ph.D. will facilitate a generative card building process using the graphic or icon ‘jam’ as the underlying activity. Participants will first have the opportunity to visually explore some universal themes they experience when taking care in and out of the classroom. Each participant will be invited to volunteer one or more cards to our collected self-care iconography deck which then will be uploaded online and offered as an open resource.