What COVID-19 has taught academics: Historical arguments for the future of in-person teaching

Abstract

Using Wilhelm von Humboldt's ideal of education as Bildung, with its focus on the cultivation of the self, this essay argues for fostering live academic participation in the post-pandemic era. The author homes in on the in-person, seminar-style teaching that was deprived of key elements during COVID-19 due to the abrupt switch to the digital format. No matter which communication tools are used in remote teaching, chat software usually does not display more than the name of the participants. Conference or meeting software can show faces live, but the tiles are usually so small that little more than the basic features of the face are recognizable, that is, if the camera is not switched off altogether, or the connection is too shaky, or the students—justifiably—do not wish to give insights into their private spaces. Consequently, digital teaching cannot convey the full mimicry, gestures, and engagement that in-person teaching provides through the live dialogue. Thus, this essay makes an argument for fostering in-person teaching in the future. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Irene Gammel and Jason Wang; individual chapters, the contributors.