Redesigning (virtual) learning with a “love ethic” in the wake of COVID-19

Faced with unprecedented challenges, students continue to learn during a global pandemic. This new atmosphere of learning comes with a host of challenges, ranging from financial hardships to mental and physical exhaustion. Students and faculty have had to make the shift to online learning, in some instances, in a matter of days. Despite the technological, emotional, and embodied hardships associated with the switch to online learning, educators must still remain committed to supporting thoughtful and innovative student learning. Perhaps the best method for overcoming these new challenges is the power of kindness, or what feminist scholar bell hooks has named a “love ethic”. This human-centered approach to teaching is the process of utilizing “all the dimensions of love – ‘care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect, and knowledge’ – in our everyday lives” (Hooks, 2000, p. 94). While hooks’ ideology has been around for more than 20 years, I believe this paradigm should reemerge as the standard that guides instruction and research in the LIS profession. This shift should extend beyond the era of COVID-19 and remain a cornerstone of not only classroom learning, but also for the implementation of new theories, policies, practices, and reflexive understandings of information studies”.