More than the curriculum

At the University of Dayton, English lecturer Megan Donelson is redefining what it means to be an educator. She has made it her mission to show her students that their professors do care about them by making their mental health a priority. 

In her English course Health Literacy and Social Justice, a big portion of the coursework includes a history-based project for which students investigate real world injustices, inequities and societal problems.

Her students have researched topics like the Untreated Syphilis Study of 25 Black males at Tuskegee and the impacts of redlining, such as food deserts and the inability for some residents to build equity through homeownership. Many of them will apply the lessons they learn in future professions in health care.

“The content that they find is usually so dark — it’s so heavy,” she said. “I struggle with the content, but I honestly thought that it was just me.”

Like many faculty members, Donelson conducts anonymous surveys throughout the course and at the end of each semester, allowing students to be “as comfortable as possible in telling me how things are really going for them,” she said.

The results were shocking. Her students were struggling with the content in the course just as much as she was.

“Some of them pointed out that by the end of the course, I am asking them to be advocates and activists, but they just feel so hopeless about the situation that they don’t think they can make a difference,” she said. 

Donelson decided the best course of action was just an open and honest discussion:

“I realized that if I want to teach them to take care of the world, I have to teach them to take care of themselves too, because you have to do it if you’re going to keep doing that work.” 

Donelson started looking into what self-care strategies she could integrate into her classroom while not making it too jarring for students. She settled on journaling, giving students prompts they are able to use. And she promised not to look at the responses. 

Taking time to journal and take care of themselves during a class was not what many students were expecting. But Donelson said learning how to care for themselves as future professionals is a priority for her.

Emily Backus, a junior premed major, said she never would have sought out this type of activity on her own, and she was thankful Donelson brought it to the class. 

“It allowed me to see the benefits that journaling can have, and Dr. Donelson encouraged us to continue this approach even after the semester ended,” she said.

Donelson said she is planning to continue this in her other classes and share this knowledge with even more students:

“It shows our students how much they really mean to their professors.”

photos by Sylvia Stahl ’18