Abstract:

The aim of our study is to investigate the environment in which the academic educational process takes place. Apart from the informational content and some specific materials, we support the hypothesis according to which the teachers should be the initiators of the pedagogical communication format or environment. To facilitate meaningful learning and authentic student-centered education, it is necessary to promote specific conditions that favor transformation. From the perspective of the invitational rhetoric, a number of four external conditions have been proposed to create an environment favorable to ethical interaction: safety, openness, freedom and importance. Our study offers an articulated theoretical perspective and an auto-ethnographic exercise to clarify how to create external conditions for transformationand a genuine concern for the ethical in teaching socio-human disciplines in the university environment.

The present study also seeks to explore how the four external conditions can be capitalized on and implemented in the context of emergency remote teaching, considering the new type of online interaction on the Zoom platform. Our study highlights both teachers' and students' perspective on the challenges they have to face in relation to teaching and learning remotely, based on interviews and questionnaire responses, in particular on the newly released comprehensive report "Analysis of online education through students' eyes. ANOSR recommendations". As the rapid transition to emergency remote teaching had negative impacts on student learning, engagement and mental well-being, the study makes recommendations on how the four external conditions can be used to improve the performance of teaching and learning activities, as well as both students' and teachers' general well-being.

Keywords:

Invitational rhetoric, ethics, external conditions, teaching, socio-human disciplines, emergency remote teaching, well-being.