Teaching is hard, higher education expert Kevin Gannon noted to the Bryant professors and staff gathered for the Fall Faculty Forum’s morning workshop — and so is learning. There are no magic solutions, no “three simple tricks” that unlock the secrets of connecting with students and helping them reach their full potential, he stated.
But there is a sort of North Star teachers can follow.
“We teach students, we don’t teach brains on sticks,” Gannon reminded the Bryant educators. Education, at its core, offered Gannon, should not be based in dry, rote transactions of knowledge; such methods only contribute to burnout and student disinterest. “Hopeless students cannot learn, hopeless teachers cannot teach,” he stated firmly.
Instead, it should involve creating spaces of trust that meet students where they are and inspire agency. “We can start thinking about, ‘What are some things I can do in a teaching and learning space that at least take the sharpest edges off of this?’” Gannon mused. “The more connections and the more strongly students feel connected, the more likely they are to be successful, not just academically, but socio-emotionally as well.”
“I think, a lot of times, we need to let them know we believe in them,” he reflected.
Though he led the presentation, Gannon — with a thoughtful, unassuming manner — encouraged dialogue, rumination, and even occasional pushback, as the attendees, eager to find ways to ensure their charges get the most out of their time in college, dove into the discussion.
A day of learning about learning
Gannon, known to many in the higher education community as the “Tattooed Professor,” is the director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence (CAFE) and professor of history at Queens University of Charlotte. A frequent contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education and other publications, he also leads talks and workshops on critical and inclusive pedagogy; race, history, and justice; and technology and teaching.
"We can collaborate, we can affirm, and we can share and all of that that is going to be iterated and repeated in the classroom.”
This November, he visited Bryant to lead the annual forum, which brings Bryant’s educators together to learn about new ways of thinking and opportunities in education. The day-long event is organized by Bryant’s Center for Teaching Excellence, which supports and enriches the practice and scholarship of teaching and learning at Bryant University through consultation, resources, and programing.
The morning workshop was just one of several sessions held throughout the day — from community addresses to a group discussion of Gannon’s book Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto — that focused on how educators can rethink the curriculum and their pedagogy to address challenges like the rise of ChatGPT, a student mental health crisis, and the lingering academic and emotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which Gannon dubbed “probably the most profoundly disruptive event that any of us have experienced as teachers in our professional lives.”
Faculty from nearly every discipline took part in the day’s animated presentations and discussions, a community of practice that Gannon praised. “Just as connection and building relationships are essential for meaningful student learning, they are essential for meaningful work on our part,” he stated. “The only way we do this work successfully is in community and solidarity with one another.”
The interchange was inspiring, noted Jennifer Horan, lecturer of History, Literature, and the Arts.
“These CTE workshops are just magnificent because they bring us together. We can collaborate, we can affirm, and we can share and all of that that is going to be iterated and repeated in the classroom,” she said.
Lifting up, not pushing down
After a lunch session with Bryant’s academic leadership, Gannon concluded his visit with a keynote address on rethinking the idea of academic rigor and balancing challenge and support. Though often a subject of debate — and controversy — he noted that “rigor” often lacks a substantive definition, which often leads to confusion and discord.
Gannon cautioned that it is too often used as a code word for exclusion. “Repeatedly making students undergo difficult challenges without support, but with high stakes consequences for failing, that's not rigorous teaching — that's hazing,” he argued.
Instead, Gannon advocated for what he called “compassionate challenge,” which gives students license to soar cognitively while removing unnecessary logistics issues. “I'm not arguing that we should not be challenging students. I am not arguing that higher education should not be challenging — and never would because it absolutely should be challenging. Higher education should be one of the hardest things that our students are asked to do collectively.”
“We are not asking Olympic pole vaulters to do incredible things without a safety net.”
But if those difficulties stand in the way of successful outcomes, nothing is gained. “Our job is to remove barriers, not create them,” he reminded the audience — and suggested that they reimagine their pedagogy according to a “very complex” litmus test: Does this advance learning?
“We are not asking Olympic pole vaulters to do incredible things without a safety net,” Gannon noted.
At the conclusion of the talk, Gannon took questions related to testing, grading, motivating students, and ensuring the accessibility of the educational experience. Both he and the audience worked through the issues together, thoughtfully and in real time.
After all, as he had said at the outset of the day, there is no magic bullet for teaching issues. Instead, each concern should be addressed with thoughtful, careful, and empathic consideration— and that consideration is best done together.
Gannon, said Terri Hasseler, Ph.D., Bryant’s CTE director, “provided our faculty and staff with a full day of thoughtful reflection. He offered faculty space to reflect on our own teaching practices and to engage in lively debate with each other in our offices and hallways well after his visit.”
