DIPLOMA DIALOGUES
COMPASSION THROUGH COVID BY CHRISTINA TORTORELLI, RSW, GINA ADAMS, BSW, RSW, AND SHAUNA PARKS, MSW, RSW
COVID HAS PLACED unprecedented demands on humanity. Medical and health care workers have really taken this in stride. Never since the Spanish Flu have social workers been asked to provide more support and caring to people experiencing various symptoms: anxiety, uncertainty, doubts about self-sufficiency, health and safety, and overall well-being. With COVID numbers continuing to rise across the world, and the reality of a second wave upon us, social workers must sharpen their skills in understanding the world through others’ eyes. In particular, educators and professors must be caring and compassionate towards their students and be available to support them through this uncertain time. Let’s talk about a student who wrote to two different professors asking for a 24 -hour extension on their assignments since they had just lost their mother. Professor 1 only gave them an extra 12 hours. Professor 2, their social work professor, told them to submit the assignments later in the semester and asked them to share favourite memories of their mother instead. Needless to say, the student felt highly comforted and supported by the latter. As social work educators, our students are best supported when we treat them with unconditional positive regard and offer them the privilege of facing their hardships in a way that compels them to move forward. It is really about bringing the essence of social work into the program – teaching by example. Compassion is defined as “sympathetic pity and concern for the suffering or misfortunes of another.” It has four components: cognitive, affective, inspirational and motivational. This translates to understanding the problem, feeling with and for our students, the offer of help to students, and the understanding that we as educators are going to support them. COVID has put
extraordinary demands on students and educators alike, yet affords us the opportunity and privilege to be there for our students when they most need it. Through on-line teaching, we are invited into students’ personal worlds in new ways. Doing our due diligence to ensure students can meet their learning objectives and still meet requirements is our ongoing task. Through COVID, many students have lost hope and have been caught up in fears of the virus and of losing loved ones. They have been attempting to maintain safety; trying to do group assignments in ways they never have before; caring for and teaching their children while being students themselves! They have also had to let go of what they thought their social work education was going to look like. Spending time with a student when they are feeling distraught, checking up on them afterwards, checking in to see how we can best support them, and acknowledging the small gains they make can result in remarkable achievements and personal growth. By giving this gift of compassion to our students, we are also giving ourselves the gift of joy and fulfillment, which is essential when the world is feeling completely threatened. By tuning in to the distress of our students, we can continue to practice the very core of our profession: Compassion!
From left to right: SHAUNA PARKS is an instructor in the Mount Royal University Social Work program, GINA ADAMS is the Program Advisor and Practicum Coordinator, and CHRISTINA TORTORELLI is an Assistant Professor and Practicum Field Director. THE ADVOCATE
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