Poetry and prose: Mediating and modeling faculty member mental health and wellness

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has resulted in an amplified focus on mental health and wellness for post-secondary education students, educators, and administrators. Knowledge regarding the mental health and wellness of educators and administrators within post-secondary institutions and the support mechanisms available are limited, but during this time of crisis have become increasingly necessary. Relationships and interactions that were once organic in nature are now occurring through alternative virtual methods, and we propose that communal creative writing provides a space for building rapport and reenergizing ourselves and our students. A Creative Writing Community established within a Faculty of Education is mediating and modeling the types of critical-collaborative spaces needed for pre-service teachers and adult/mature educators and researchers in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world. Unnecessary divides between creative and academic approaches to writing are bridged as the skills and techniques required to compose poetry and prose reveal an innovative and independent means of expression with the potential to promote mental health and wellness among post-secondary education stakeholders. This poetic inquiry case study delivers practical recommendations for facilitating community problem-solving, promoting educator and administrator well-being, and developing pedagogical/andragogical solutions and strategies for application within online and remote teaching and learning platforms. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.