6. Maintaining Inclusive Classroom Communities at a Distance

If we define a good-quality education as one that is based on the engaged pedagogy defined by bell hooks, what did that look like during emergency remoted teaching and learning (ERTL)? Were teachers able to build the classroom communities necessary for engaged pedagogy to be viable online? Chapter 6 uses ideas from bell hooks, Jeffery Drysdale et al. and Alfred Rovai to explore the role of classroom community in teaching and learning and how it was affected by the implementation of ERTL. According to Drysdale et al. and Rovai, in order for online classroom communities to be supportive of learners, students must experience a sense of belonging, trust, and shared purpose - all in the context of high-quality interactions. It turns out that these characteristics of supportive online classroom communities align with bell hooks’ ideas about engaged pedagogy and provide a rubric for assessing the extent to which online classrooms create the communities necessary to serve all students.