In an excellent Michigan Radio interview with U of M Lecturer Margot Finn, Finn talked about her experience teaching this past year, and especially focused on the open letters she’s been regularly writing to her students. She shared this insight about a change she’ll make going forward as a result of pandemic teaching.
I’ve started, this year, referring to deadlines as “best by dates.” And I’m just going to keep. We’re just going to do that forever. Because that’s always basically been the approach, cause I’m not going to grade every paper the day it comes in. Like, there’s never been a circumstance where somebody’s been like, “I have a lot of exams this week, can I have a few extra days?” and I’ve been like, “No.” That’s never happened, that never would happen. So, the deadline has never really been a deadline; why call it that? Only the students who know how to advocate for their needs will tell you when they need an extension, and there is an uneven distribution of that skill in the student population. So, the way to have everybody really truly have access to what your official policy is, which is true flexibility, is to say that the policy is true flexibility, so that everyone can avail themselves of it.
I just really like that mindset, and that description of what feels correct to me. Privileging those who know how to advocate for themselves at 19 is not a fair policy.