Cura Personalis: Institutionalizing Compassion during Emergency Remote Teaching

• Main Authors: Moreno, Ma. Monica L, Rodrigo, Ma. Mercedes T., Torres, Johanna Marion R., Gaspar, Timothy Jireh, Agapito, Jenilyn L
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: Compassion-based teaching; COVID-19; cura personalis; emergency remote teaching; teaching and learning practices; higher education; Computer Sciences; Databases and Information Systems; Education; Educational Methods; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/discs-faculty-pubs/241; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1242&context=discs-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Faced with the fears and anxieties brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, educational institutions had to devise new compassion-based teaching and learning policies and approaches that recognized and provided for the pandemic’s psychological and emotional toll. This paper describes how the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines enacted its core value of cura personalis, care for the entire person, in the context of emergency remote teaching. We describe the circumstances that prompted the greater emphasis on compassion and the adjustments to classroom management, course content, class interactions, and assessment. Finally we describe the tradeoffs or costs of this approach.