The year 2020 began with grand ideas about building future higher education. Thereafter universities have been through a constant swirl of uncertainties and confusions as they respond to a novel suite of radically reconfigured fundamentals and prospects. This essay charts this journey in order to document 2020 experiences and to clarify evolving…

In this contribution to the Special Issue of Studies in Higher Education, I describe developments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch higher education along three lines. First, the context is outlined in chronological order. It concerns the evolution of the pandemic in the Netherlands, complemented by the general situation at my own university…

Christchurch-based science advisers Sabina Cleary and Carmen Kenton, from Kaha Education, talk about their experiences of supporting teachers during the COVID-19 lockdown. Insights from their experiences during a previous crisis guided them during COVID-19. They share their thoughts about useful learning to take forward as school life resumes.…

This narrative essay describes a basic writing instructor's engagement with student confusion in a hybrid Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) course. The story examines the ways confusion can mark sites of engagement for students and teachers and how ALP courses, in particular, might mediate effective (and ineffective) forms of confusion.

Karen Gross is an author, educator and advisor on diverse issues along the educational pipeline. Her current research focuses on student success and the impact of trauma on learning, psychosocial development and health. Sadly, the issues on which she focuses have taken center stage with the coronavirus pandemic and the literally thousands of…

G. Rumay Alexander is a leader working to transform nursing education and address systemic racism within the nursing profession and the health care system more broadly. At the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Alexander serves as clinical professor at the School of Nursing and assistant dean for relational excellence at the Adams…

After twenty-five years, the authors find that the "natural" writing center-WAC connection has proven its value over time. Pointing to the growth of WAC-writing centers, their scholarship, role in faculty development and community building, the authors end by reflecting on how this program building over the last years supports and can…

This reflective essay is written based on the author's experience as a study abroad program visiting resident director in Japan during the 2019-2020 academic year. As the resident director, the author served as the front line of communication and support for the international students on this program during an unprecedented crisis that impacted…

Miguel A. Cardona, the former commissioner of education in Connecticut, became the U.S. Secretary of Education on March 2, 2021, taking office in the midst of an historic pandemic that had profoundly reshaped the nation's schools. In his initial months on the job, Cardona- also a one-time public school teacher and principal--has focused closely on…

This article provides the personal account of two professors who reflect on the challenges of teacher education preparation due to COVID-19. They discuss the swift transition from face to face instruction to virtual learning and teaching including inequities faculty and teacher candidates faced during remote learning, obstacles surrounding state…

In March 2020, schools across the country were forced almost overnight to shut their doors in an urgent effort to slow the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19). Within weeks or even days, teachers scrambled to move their classes online, and schools rushed to ensure that students had Internet access and computers. For this May/June issue of…

Design thinking is becoming more commonly used as a collaborative, problem-solving approach in higher education outside design disciplines. With the pivot to remote and online learning in response to Covid-19 and lockdown measures, many educators have had to rethink their practice and collaboration in design thinking, without the usual recourse to…

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She served as president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2005-2006. Dr. Ladson-Billings has contributed widely to the development of…

In this article, members of "The Teacher Educator" editorial advisory board consider the state of teacher education in today's universities through these questions: (1) What do you believe might be the lasting impact of COVID-19 on teachers and how teacher education might change? (2) What really matters for teacher educators in the wake…

This essay reflects on the spiritual lessons learned as a Catholic graduate-level teacher prep program guided novice teachers through the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed the importance of articulating a clear spiritual vision rooted in scripture, history, and personal experience. The guiding spiritual lens has been the Emmaus…