{"id":110,"date":"2026-06-16T12:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/disinformationhandbook\/?post_type=chapter&p=110"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:57:18","slug":"teaching","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/disinformationhandbook\/chapter\/teaching\/","title":{"raw":"Teaching","rendered":"Teaching"},"content":{"raw":"Chapter Contents<\/strong>\r\n6.1 Teaching with Empathy<\/a>\r\n6.2 Building Trust and Connection in Instructional Sessions<\/a>\r\n6.3 Empathy-Centered Teaching Practices<\/a>\r\n6.4 Exercising Metacognition in the Classroom by Combining SIFT and Mindfulness<\/a>\r\nReflective Questions<\/a>\r\n\r\n
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<\/a>6.1 Teaching with Empathy<\/h2>\r\nFrom one-off instruction sessions to workshops and online guides, teaching is a core function for most academic librarians. This presents an opportunity to prepare learners for the current information landscape through the development of critical skills. Empathy plays an important role in instruction as we engage with learners in the classroom. Whatever the content of the lesson, empathy helps connect and builds trust. It reduces barriers like anxiety and intimidation, which can help learners feel more comfortable engaging with new ideas and asking questions.[footnote]LaTiffany Davis et al., \u201dAuthentic Connection: Engaging Students through Empathy,\u201d portal: Libraries and the Academy <\/em>24, no. 4 (2024): 691.[\/footnote] Empathy also helps us as instructors see learners as whole people with multifaceted lives that include roles outside of the university.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 691.[\/footnote] This can inform how we approach students\u2019 needs both inside and outside the classroom so that we may be more effective as educators.\r\n\r\nEmpathy is useful in all teaching situations, whether the lesson itself tackles disinformation or not. It lifts all information literacy boats - however, what is specific to disinformation literacy in our current time? As we discussed earlier in the handbook, the current information landscape is a challenge for everyone, but particularly in our context for the learners we teach. Disinformation is easy to find and promoted to the top of feeds by algorithms that favour engagement through strong reactions. Meanwhile, search engines are \u2018enshittified\u2019, eroding the search process. We also have our audience needs to consider - for instance, do our audiences have historic and ongoing reasons to be distrustful of the government or scientists because trust has been or continues to be undermined? Being empathetic in teaching means learning about your patron group and doing work outside the classroom, to read and learn from experts from marginalized groups in order to understand the learner as a whole person. In the current information landscape, we also cannot take for granted the authority of sources, given the attacks on public institutions, both real and imagined. The classroom is an important space for addressing this, teaching skills for assessing reputation, while also introducing nuance. Finally, we have to consider that information intake is an affective experience. Disinformation is designed to elicit strong emotions, and there are also emotions tied to research - from learning about distressing topics to the emotions that may be tied to being new to research. While empathy is important in all classroom interactions, it is particularly effective in our current information landscape.\r\n\r\nThe following section provides practical methods for building trust in instructional sessions and empathy-forward strategies for teaching that can be applied to most teaching situations.\r\n
\r\n\r\n\u00a0Challenges with One-Off Instruction Sessions<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe often engage in instruction through one-offs, where we are asked to come in for a set amount of time to cover library resources, often with a superficial tie to the curriculum or an assignment. One-offs are particularly challenging because they \u201cattempt to shoehorn the messiness and not-yetness of learning into a 50 minute session.\u201d[footnote]Nicole Pagowsky, \u201cThe Contested One-Shot: Deconstructing Power Structures to Imagine New Futures,\u201d College & Research Libraries<\/em> 82, no. 3 (2021): 301.[\/footnote] In order to build enough trust to engage learners and foster lasting relationships, teaching opportunities would benefit from moving away from the short, episodic, and decontextualized one-offs.[footnote]Karen P. Nicholson and Maura Seale, \u201cInformation Literacy, Diversity, and One-Shot: Pedagogies of the Practical,\u201d College & Research Libraries<\/em> 83, no. 5 (2022): 766.[\/footnote] It takes time to build IL skills and embody the nuances of information, and IL that is integrated throughout the curriculum is essential to building critical thinking skills. This is easier said than done, as information literacy is at once \u201ceverywhere, and nowhere\u201d[footnote]Barbara Fister, \u201cLizard People in the Library,\u201d Project Information Literacy<\/em> (2021): 3.[\/footnote] and without proper curriculum integration, it often goes by the wayside.\r\n\r\nWhile one-offs are not ideal situations for building information literacy skills and developing metacognition, empathy can be an effective approach to engage learners and encourage future development in their information literacy journeys. It is an opening through which connection can be established and the ground can be laid for further cultivation. Even when time is short, empathy is important for building a relationship with learners that can persist beyond a brief session.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/a>6.2 Building Trust and Connection in Instructional Sessions<\/h2>\r\nIn the previous chapter, we covered building trust through collaborative reference interactions and empathetic listening. Teaching also benefits from building trust and fostering connection with students. Librarians can build trust and connection in the classroom by incorporating the following into their practice:\r\n\r\nEmbrace authenticity in teaching. <\/strong>Trust can be eroded when instructors put on a persona.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 692.[\/footnote] Presenting yourself as the \u2018all-knowing expert\u2019, or sage on the stage, can create a barrier that prevents librarian-learner partnerships in the classroom. How can collaboration be possible when one member is positioned as superior to the other? One way to embrace authenticity is by allowing yourself to be vulnerable. For instance, things go wrong during teaching and demonstrations. This is not a failure but rather an opportunity for connection. Students see firsthand that research involves mistakes, unsuccessful searches, iteration, critical thinking, and humility from the searcher. Embracing and even creating opportunities for this kind of vulnerability helps us present ourselves authentically and makes room for learners to be vulnerable themselves.\r\n\r\nDialogue, not monologue.[footnote]Carly M. Goldstein et al., \u201cScience Communication in the Age of Misinformation,\u201d Annals of Behavioral Medicine<\/em> 54, no. 12 (2020): 988.[\/footnote] <\/strong>Communication is more effective when an audience has the opportunity to participate in a conversation.[footnote]Goldstein et al., \u201cScience Communication in the Age of Misinformation.\u201d[\/footnote] As discussed in the previous chapter, asking questions can promote partnership between researcher and library worker in a reference interview. Similarly, in classroom interactions, posing questions is also an effective way of encouraging collaboration in the learning process. For instance, asking students to suggest topics for searching and research demonstrations is a simple way to center the student by gauging their interests, or asking students for their thoughts before sharing your own. Posing questions and creating dialogue allows us to be empathetic by understanding students' needs and tailoring the learning to them.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 691.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nEmploy a bridge in.<\/strong> The BOPPPS model from the Instructional Skills Workshop Network offers the concept of a \u2018bridge-in\u2019 as a presentation strategy.[footnote]Instructional Skills Workshop Network Executive, The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) Handbook Part One: Workshop Overview<\/em><\/a>.[\/footnote] The bridge-in is a method to engage learners at the beginning of the lesson. One way to do this is through storytelling. Storytelling \u201ccreates connection between storyteller\u2019s experience and the listener\u2019s different, yet similar experience, allowing for a perception of common ground.\u201d[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 692.[\/footnote] For example, storytelling was an effective way amongst scientists of communicating COVID-19 information as it allowed them to build a personal connection while sharing accurate scientific information.[footnote]Goldstein, \u201cScience Communication,\u201d 989.[\/footnote] A related story that takes into account the learner as a whole person and focuses on affective responses creates a more empathetic bridge-in - for example, introducing a research session with a question to the audience like \u201cWhat are some examples of something you\u2019ve done \u2018on hard mode\u2019?\u201d can lead to stories such as trying to put together furniture without reading the instruction manual i.e. a common experience.\r\n\r\nIncorporate check-ins during instruction.<\/strong>[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 695 (table)[\/footnote] This could be as simple as asking \u201cHow are you feeling about\u2026\u201d If learners are hesitant to respond or share their feelings, you can use a method like storytelling \u2013 is there a similar experience you can share to highlight how you felt in a similar moment? Or you could employ e-learning tools like polling software where students can share (anonymously or not) without speaking to a large crowd. Be prepared to listen and empathetically respond to their feelings.[footnote]For more on this, see above section \u201cBuilding Trust Through Empathetic Listening.\u201d[\/footnote] Introducing celebratory language, like \u201cI appreciate your thoughts\u201d and \u201cthank you for speaking up\u201d when learners participate[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 696.[\/footnote] can help promote further dialogue as it shows appreciation over judgement.\r\n\r\nAcknowledge disinformation. <\/strong>Acknowledging the complexity of the information landscape and the role that disinformation plays is important for building trust with learners and encourages a more nuanced understanding of sources. Rather than embodying the sage on the stage who has all the correct sources, and only the correct sources, these open conversations will establish that we are all in the same boat \u2013 we have all encountered disinformation and had to develop methods of parsing it. These conversations will vary by learner level - consider where the learners currently are in their knowledge and introduce topics accordingly. A scaffolded approach that builds on previous knowledge is ideal.\r\n\r\nRelate to a topic students care about.<\/strong> It\u2019s important to know about your audience in order to engage them: who they are, what their context is, and what they value.[footnote]Goldstein, \u201cScience Communication,\u201d 987.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nEncourage follow up after the lesson. <\/strong>Follow-up is an opportunity to continue building relationships.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 698.[\/footnote] During classroom or workshop instruction, you can encourage follow-up by providing multiple opportunities for students to reach out to you, for instance, sharing your email or bookable appointment hours. Emphasize with sincerity that you would love to hear from them and make it clear you are available and it is a part of your job to provide that type of assistance.\r\n

<\/a>6.3 Empathy-Centered Teaching Practices<\/h2>\r\nWe may all consider ourselves to be empathetic people, Davis et al identify the importance of intentionality when engaging in empathy in the classroom.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 690.[\/footnote] Intentional practice \u201cgives attention to details that may be overlooked when not using a focused lens of intentionality.\u201d[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 690.[\/footnote] Empathy is easily overlooked when trying to meet teaching objectives set by someone else within a short period of time. Below we provide suggestions for how to actively and thoughtfully incorporate empathy into teaching practices by creating empathetic learning objectives, introducing opportunities for fun, and combining mindfulness with metacognition and SIFT.\r\n\r\nEmpathetic Learning Objectives<\/strong>\r\n\r\nClear learning objectives are an effective way to set the stage for learners, preparing them for what they will learn and providing a benchmark by which to assess their learning. Davis et al. suggest adding empathetic learning objectives as a way to be intentionally empathetic in the classroom.[footnote]Davis et al., \u201cAuthentic Connection,\u201d 690.[\/footnote] A strong, empathetic learning objective addresses the feelings and needs of the students.\r\n\r\nPossible empathetic learning objectives are:\r\n