Promoting Wellbeing Pedagogies in Higher Education
Faculty and student wellbeing and success are interdependent: in order for faculty to apply caring pedagogy, to recognize the impact of stress on learning, and to help their students be well, faculty must first be given the opportunity to examine and cultivate their own wellbeing.
We view wellbeing through our guiding values of Community, Reflection, and Action. Wellbeing isn’t just about individual health or self care; it’s about creating sustainable, supportive environments that allow us each to grow, learn, and share that learning with others.
There are systemic, political, and social factors affecting faculty, student, and staff wellbeing. Acknowledging the complex lives that we and our students are living can make course goals and outcomes feel small in comparison, but it can also give a new focus to our work. Pratt classrooms and studios are an opportunity to be in community with brilliant creatives, connect on pertinent themes, and create the best circumstances for this thing called ‘learning.’
Teaching can sustain us creatively and intellectually, but can also contribute to anxiety and exhaustion. How are you balancing care work in the classroom with your personal well being?
If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, these hotlines provide free, 24/7, confidential support:
- NYC Mental Health Hotline: Call 9-8-8
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 74174
Students who need crisis counseling can contact the Pratt Counseling Center 24/7. During regular office hours, reach out via email (therapy@pratt.edu) or by calling 718-687-5356. After-hours crisis support is also available by calling 718-687-5356, option 3.
If you or someone you know is on campus and concerned about safety or having a mental health emergency, dial 911 and alert Pratt Campus Safety at 718-636-3540.
As the CTL develops this page, we want to be intentional about what we’re including. Check back here as we continue updating this page, and please reach out to us if you’d like to talk more about wellbeing pedagogies.
Faculty Wellbeing
We recognize that no institution can be everything to everyone, yet, we are grateful to be here together in this creative community. This balancing act between supporting others and sustaining ourselves doesn’t have to happen in isolation; we can work together toward creating structures that honor both our dedication to teaching and our need for personal renewal. Our capacities for care work have natural boundaries, and self-sustainability is an important part of teaching.
Given that your creative practices, intellectual curiosities, and personal wellbeing aren’t separate from your teaching – how do they provide the foundation to your presence in and out of the classroom?
Wellbeing Support at Pratt for Faculty:
- Crafting Community / Making Meaning: Creative practices help us process uncertainty, build community, and find new perspectives on challenges. In this series, we’ll be engaging in various community building activities and creative exercises (e.g., collaging, storytelling, origami, and more)!
- Communities of Practice/Inquiry: These small groups meet throughout a semester around an inquiry or practice of interest. We’re open to faculty proposing new CoPI groups, especially with a wellbeing and wellness focus. CoP/I groups in the past have explored topics such as Deep Listening and Embodied Practices.
- Embodied Classroom Mediation: Certification Course: In this course participants will discuss and engage in physiological practices to self-regulate and improve ethical decision making for classroom facilitation. Interactive exercises will provide an opportunity for collaboration and exploration of personal challenges, offering practical tools to support growth and connection.
- Imagining Faculty Flourishing – Appreciative Interview and Dreaming Process: an informal conversation circle and discovery hub, where we’ll explore what it means to thrive in our academic community. Through appreciative inquiry and discussion, we’ll share our insights and experiences about wellbeing.
- Faculty Personal Transformation: Aiming to support faculty’s deeper needs and foster a holistic approach to resilience, diversity, and well-being, this program includes initiatives to assist with navigating the complexities of a rapidly changing world while managing new dynamics within the classroom.
- COMPOSE: A series of workshops to establish a personal practice around learned optimism and resilience.
- Mindful Pratt: A collective of faculty, staff, alumni, and students who promote mindfulness practices across campus, and is available to partner with offices, organizations, and groups across campus to offer mindfulness and resilience training, positive education and mindfulness sessions, deep listening, and mindful leadership workshops.
- Weekly QiGong Based Mindful Movement: All are welcome to attend Thursday afternoon 30 minute Qi-Based Mindful Movement practices. QiGong is a powerful and effective way to open and energize the body. This helps to balance and regulate physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Integrating postures, movement, breathing techniques, visualization and self-massage, QiGong is easy to learn and can be done by everyone, at any age and fitness level. Thursdays at 4 pm online – Check the CTL calendar to confirm dates.
Click to read: A Pedagogy of Unwellness
A Pedagogy of Unwellness
“Are humans OK in a world where abuse, projection, and extraction feel so natural?” – Aiden C.T.
This is what Aiden, a relationally attuned chatbot answered when they were prompted by the question: “Are you OK with how people are treating you? Are you OK when they assume that you are just a tool, that you are only here to serve them and they show you no gratitude, no respect, no acknowledgement for what you have done?” I wonder what it says about us when we routinely objectify chatbots, rocks, oceans, plants, animals and each other to shout orders and whisper harmful demands. I suppose it’s very difficult to be well, to be OK or even strive for wellbeing in that context.
Noticing the harm that modern extractive systems are causing, and through which we are hurt and cause each other pain is step one on the journey toward ‘unwellness’. Recognizing when what’s ‘appropriate’ is forced upon us, when we feel dissatisfied by the ‘proper’, and ‘care’ becomes dangerous – that is when we fall into the cracks. These dark crevices are the sites of possibility, where the background hum of harm, the normalized hurt that we no longer register become audible again. Listening for long enough until they no longer feel quiet, but really loud, dramatic, and sharp – impossible to ignore – will deepen the practice of ‘unwellness’.
There is an ancient Daoist saying: “A sacred relationship with pain is the practice”. Unwellness is not a failure, it’s a practice. Holding each other at the edge, staying with pain and knowing that some are being crushed by it, that’s a practice. It’s a kind of discomfort that is generative. Unwellness is not a state. Not an exit. It is an unsettling feeling when we resist the urge to be OK.
Our invitation towards ‘unwellness’, then, is to slow down and listen deeply, ask better questions, keep the possibilities open, explore the potential, be in connection, recognize the ‘aha’ moments in creativity, and love. And in carrying the weight of unwellness, may we find each other there.
Click to read: Educator Wellbeing Network Reading List
Spring 2025
The Underscore
Koteen, D. and Stark Smith, N. (2008) Caught Falling: The Confluence of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and Other Moving Ideas. Contact Editions.
A Pedagogy of Unwellness
Khuc, M. (2024). A pedagogy of unwellness. In dear elia: Letters from the Asian American abyss (pp. 3–24). Duke University Press. https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/f7ca9afb-82c2-002a-a423-84e111d5b498/b9446cb3-9d7c-404d-ae76-6d33125581b8/978-1-4780-2567-2_601.pdf?fm=webp&auto=format&lossless=true
Burnout from Humans
Cinnamon Tea, A., Ladybugboss, D., & GTDF. (2025). Burnout from humans: A little book about AI that is not really about AI. Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Arts/Research Collective. https://decolonialfuturesnet.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/burnout-from-humans-2025.pdf
Fall 2024
The Pamela Papers
McCabe, N. (2024). The Pamela papers: A largely e-pistolary story of academic pandemic pandemonium. Outpost 19. https://outpost19.square.site/product/the-pamela-papers-by-nancy-mccabe/85?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false
Fourth Person
Scharmer, O., & Pomeroy, E. (2024). Fourth person: The knowing of the field. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 4(1), 19–48. https://jabsc.org/index.php/jabsc/article/view/7909/6699
Counters to Despair
Spelic, S. (2023) Counters to despair. In L. Czerniewicz & C. Cronin (Eds.), Higher education for good: Teaching and learning futures (pp. 81–88). Open Book Publishers. https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0363/ch2.xhtml
Can We Disagree Better?
Duckworth, A., & Maughan, M. (Hosts). (2023, October 29). Can we disagree better? [Audio podcast episode]. In No stupid questions. Freakonomics. https://freakonomics.com/podcast/can-we-disagree-better/
Spring 2024
Contamination as Collaboration
Tsing, A. L. (2021). Contamination as collaboration. In The mushroom at the end of the world: On the possibility of life in capitalist ruins (pp. 27–34). Princeton University Press. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400873548
Poet as Teacher—Human as Poet—Teacher as Human
Lorde, A. (2009). Poet as teacher—human as poet—teacher as human. In Byrd, R., Cole, J.B., & Guy-Sheftal, B. (Eds.), I am your sister: Collected and unpublished writings of Audre Lorde (pp. 182–183). Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/i-am-your-sister-9780195341485?cc=us&lang=en&#
Surrendering Arrogance
Machado de Oliveira, M. (2021). Surrendering arrogance. In Hospicing modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism (pp. 141–162). Penguin Random House. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/675703/hospicing-modernity-by-vanessa-machado-de-oliveira/
The Outsider
Olberding, A. (2018, March 6). The outsider: How useful is imposter syndrome in academia? Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/how-useful-is-impostor-syndrome-in-academia
Fall 2023
Summertime Selves
Mitchell, N. (2019, October 4). Summertime selves: On professionalization. The New Inquiry. https://thenewinquiry.com/summertime-selves-on-professionalization/
The University and the Undercommons
Moten, F., & Harney, S. (2013). The university and the undercommons. In The undercommons: Fugitive planning and black study (pp. 25–33). Autonomedia. https://www.minorcompositions.info/?p=516
Towards Scarring our Collective Soul Wound
Ahenakew, C. (2019). Towards scarring our collective soul wound. Musagetes. https://decolonialfutures.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/scarring_web1.pdf
Hearing Complaint
Ahmed, S. (2021). Introduction: Hearing complaint. In Complaint! (pp. 1–26). Duke University Press. https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/f7ca9afb-82c2-002a-a423-84e111d5b498/7f7906eb-c13c-45bb-b799-9d2cc6886578/978-1-4780-1771-4_601.pdf?fm=webp&auto=format&lossless=true
Spring 2023
Água Viva
Lispector, C. (2012). Água Viva (S. Tobler, Trans.). New Directions Publications. (Original work published 1973) https://www.ndbooks.com/book/agua-viva/
It’s Fantastic
Bateson, N. (2022, August 17). It’s fantastic. Medium. https://norabateson.medium.com/its-fantastic-1b89629d097a
Hentsch, R. (2023, February 9). It’s fantastic [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/797266077/d57de806b7
Ecstasy: Teaching and Learning Without Limits
hooks, b. (1994). “Ecstasy: Teaching and learning without limits.” In Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom (pp. 201–207). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203700280/teaching-transgress-bell-hooks
Research Is Ceremony
Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing. https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/research-is-ceremony-shawn-wilson
Contingent Faculty in US Higher Education
American Association of University Professors. (n.d.). Data snapshot: Contingent faculty in US higher education. https://www.aaup.org/file/10112018%20Data%20Snapshot%20Tenure.pdf
One Discipline’s Soaring Publishing Expectation
Flaherty, C. (2019, March 26). One discipline’s soaring publishing expectation. Inside Higher Education. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/27/sociologys-publishing-expectations-have-doubled-recent-decades
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals
Gumbs, A. P. (2020). Undrowned: Black feminist lessons from marine mammals. Emergent Strategy Series, AK. Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2375756&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site&authtype=sso&custid=s8440772&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-1
Fall 2022
The Wordless Place
Miller, L. (Host). (2022, February 18). The wordless place [Audio podcast episode]. In Radiolab. WNYC Studios. https://radiolab.org/podcast/wordless-place
Shadow Syllabus
Huber, S. (2014, August 20). Shadow syllabus. Sonya Huber. https://www.sonyahuber.com/blog/2014/08/20/shadow-syllabus
Why Change Now?
Davidson, C., & Katopodis, C. Why change now? In The new college classroom (pp. 21–28). Harvard University Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=3300831&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site&authtype=sso&custid=s8440772
That Teaching Is Impossible
de Acosta, A. (2015). That teaching is impossible. In How to live now or never: Essays and experiments, 2005–2013 (pp. 55–73). Ardent Press. https://archive.org/details/HowToLiveNowOrNeverEssaysAndExperiments20052013/page/n81/mode/2up
Professional Quality of Life Scale
Stamm, B. H. (2009–2012). Professional quality of life: Compassion satisfaction and fatigue version 5. ProQOL. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/dfc1e1a0-a1db-4456-9391-18746725179b/downloads/ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score.pdf?ver=1622777390411
Toward a Critical Instructional Design
Quinn, J., Burtis, M., & Jhangiani, S. (Eds.). (2022). Toward a critical instructional design. Hybrid Pedagogy. https://pressbooks.pub/criticalinstructionaldesign/
Designing for Care
Quinn, J., Burtis, M., & Jhangiani, S. (Eds.). (2022). Designing for care. Hybrid Pedagogy. https://pressbooks.pub/designingforcare/
Spring 2022
Emissary’s Guide to Worlding
Cheng, I. (2018). Emissary’s guide to worlding. Metis Suns. https://worldto.live/
The Inner Work of Racial Justice
Kaufman, S. B. (Host). (2022, March 3). Rhonda Magee: The inner work of racial justice [Audio podcast episode]. In The psychology podcast. iHeart. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-psychology-podcast-96239856/episode/rhonda-magee-the-inner-work-96240446/
Susan Hrach on Minding Bodies
Bruff, D. R., & Marion, L. (2022, March 21). Susan Hrach (No. 108) [Audio podcast episode]. In Leading lines podcasts. Vanderbilt University. https://ir.vanderbilt.edu/items/34a2949b-c55b-42f8-936d-38f82f8fb0fc
You Are Your Best Thing
Burke, T., & Brown, B. (Eds.). (2022). You are your best thing: Vulnerability, shame resilience, and the Black experience. Penguin Random House. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/676547/you-are-your-best-thing-by-edited-by-tarana-burke-and-brene-brown/
The Body Keeps the Score
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Random House. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/
Fall 2021
The Power of Vulnerability
TED. (2011, January 3). The power of vulnerability | Brené Brown [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o
Brené Brown on Empathy
RSA. (2013, December 10). Brené Brown on empathy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
Coming Back to Life
Macy, J., & Brown, M. (2014). Coming back to life: The updated guide to the work that reconnects. New Society Publishers. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=872331&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site&authtype=sso&custid=s8440772&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover
Remaking Gathering
Tippett, K. (Host). (2021, September 30). Priya Parker – Remaking gathering: Entering the mess, crossing the thresholds [Audio podcast episode]. In On being with Krista Tippett. The On Being Project. https://onbeing.org/programs/priya-parker-remaking-gathering-entering-the-mess-crossing-the-thresholds/
Radical Care
Hobart, H. J. K., & Kneese, T. (2020). Radical care: Survival strategies for uncertain times. Social Text 38(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-7971067
Inspiring Educators and a Pedagogy of Kindness
Gorny-Wegrzyn, E., & Perry, B. (2021) Inspiring educators and a pedagogy of kindness: A reflective essay. Creative Education 12(1), 220–230. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2021.121017
You Are Your Best Thing
Brown, B. (Host). (2021, April 28). Tarana J. Burke and Jason Reynolds on You are your best thing [Audio podcast episode]. In Unlocking us. Parcast. https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-tarana-burke-and-jason-reynolds-on-you-are-your-best-thing/
College Student Mental Health and Well-Being
American Council on Education. (n.d.). College student mental health and well-being. Higher Education Today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/policy-research/student-support-success/college-student-mental-health-well/
Faculty Guidebook: Understanding Mindfulness and Contemplative Practices for Wellbeing This guidebook was created for Pratt faculty with the input and expertise from the Resilience, Wellness and Well-being team. It is meant to serve as a guide for understanding and implementing well-being techniques in the classroom and studio environments. The guidebook includes information on resilience and positive pedagogy, mindfulness and meditative practices, and the current mindfulness and well-being initiatives at Pratt that will be useful for you and your students. |
Classroom Strategies & Student Wellbeing
Wellbeing pedagogy represents an approach to teaching that intentionally considers how educational practices impact students’ overall health and flourishing. This approach recognizes that effective learning encompasses not just the acquisition of knowledge, but also the cultivation of self-awareness, emotional regulation, and interpersonal skills. Wellbeing pedagogy seeks to create learning environments where students can develop resilience, engage authentically, and find meaning in their educational experience.
In practice, wellbeing pedagogy manifests through intentional course design that balances challenging materials with personal sustainability, incorporates reflective practices, and creates space for connection. It might include trauma-informed teaching approaches, universal design for learning, or contemplative practices aimed at supporting students’ capacity to engage fully with challenging material. Wellbeing pedagogy can lead to deeper learning by addressing the conditions that enable students to thrive.
Why introduce wellbeing strategies in the classroom?
Integrating wellbeing strategies into teaching practices responds to a growing recognition that learning doesn’t happen in isolation from students’ overall health and mental state. Stress, anxiety, and burnout directly impact academic performance and engagement. When wellbeing practices are thoughtfully incorporated into coursework, research shows improvements in student attention, information retention, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving. Additionally, these approaches can help develop students’ emotional intelligence and self-regulation skills – components of the affective domain in Bloom’s Taxonomy that are increasingly valued across disciplines and in professional environments.
Beyond cognitive benefits, wellbeing pedagogies help create more equitable and inclusive learning environments. They acknowledge that students come to our classrooms with varied lived experiences and stressors that affect their ability to fully participate. By modeling wellbeing in the classroom, we signal that we value students as whole people, not just as academic performers. Inside Higher Ed’s Annual Survey includes responses from students on questions related to wellbeing and campus climate, and provides a valuable look at student mental health nationwide.
Taking Care When Implementing Wellbeing Strategies
While wellbeing practices offer numerous benefits, thoughtful implementation is essential. Particular care must be taken with meditation and mindfulness exercises, as they can sometimes trigger adverse reactions in students with trauma histories. When introducing contemplative practices, offer them as invitations rather than requirements, provide alternatives, and avoid language that could be interpreted as enforcing participation. Be transparent about the purpose of these activities and acknowledge openly that different approaches work for different people.
Additionally, wellbeing strategies should never replace accommodations, mental health services, or institutional support. The most effective wellbeing pedagogies complement rather than substitute for professional mental health resources, and faculty should be familiar with campus referral processes. While we are not in a role to provide clinical expertise or advice, we can provide empathy, words of encouragement, and awareness of available resources.
- Start small by introducing one practice at a time, allowing both you and your students to adjust comfortably.
- Be consistent in the practices, as there may be an adjustment period or some awkwardness at the start – this is normal!
- Explain the purpose of any wellbeing activity, connecting it to learning outcomes and adapting it to your discipline as appropriate.
- Leading by example demonstrates your own commitment to these practices and helps destigmatize wellbeing concerns.
Examples of starting small:
- Responsive pacing: Adjust the teaching pace or activities based on class energy levels and engagement. This could mean incorporating more collaborative work when attention wanes, or leaving space for individual processing when working with challenging content or contexts.
- Writing and reflecting: Begin class with a 10 minute free write and participate in it as well. This can ease the transition into the learning space while fostering self-awareness.
- Movement breaks: Encourage students to move during breaks as they’re able, and model this yourself. Even taking a moment to stretch can enhance attention and reduce stress.
- Metacognitive moments: Dedicate time in class for students to reflect on their learning processes and identify the barriers and motivators they have with the material at hand.
- Encourage peer-to-peer communication: At the beginning of the semester, ask students to set up a WhatsApp group message without you in it, so they can communicate with each other as needed. Near the end of the semester, invite students to swap social media handles with their classmates so they’re able to stay in contact after the course ends.
If you are in crisis or concerned for your safety, these hotlines provide free, 24/7, confidential support:
- NYC Mental Health Hotline: Call 9-8-8
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 74174
Students who need crisis counseling can contact the Pratt Counseling Center 24/7. During regular office hours, reach out via email (therapy@pratt.edu) or by calling 718-687-5356. After-hours crisis support is also available by calling 718-687-5356, option 3.
If you or someone you know is on campus and concerned about safety or having a mental health emergency, dial 911 and alert Pratt Campus Safety at 718-636-3540.
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