My Online Class
I have been teaching RC for thirty years. During those years I have met many wonderful people whom I have loved and cherished, no matter where they’ve ended up [gone] after our class series finished.
I have always loved teaching RC—leading and teaching make it easier to be present and care deeply for people. However, in all these years, despite invitations to most of my good friends, I’ve never succeeded in teaching many Chinese or Taiwanese people.
When the call came to teach online RC classes, I was happy to do so, and I now have a class that is almost all people with Chinese and/or Taiwanese heritage. Across countries, states, and time zones, we have built a beautiful community, and I have created an RC Taiwanese/Chinese home for myself, my group, and our fantastic white ally.
Even as I strategize with them about how to connect to their local RC Communities when we return to physical classes, I have no intention of losing our connection. And I am excited about introducing them to the broader RC Community, even if they need to participate within the confines of Zoom.
Online classes are far from ideal, but they have several advantages: It doesn’t matter where people live if they have Internet access. People save on commuting time because they are in class while in their home or office. Class time is much more flexible (for example, the meeting can start early or end late). It’s easy to read RC literature together using the shared-screen option. Often the students have asked for a class, so it is a group of self-motivated, very engaged students.
People are thirsty to learn our basic tenets—that people are good, that we care for each other, that we can heal from our hurts. What a joy it is to share them widely!
Merion, Pennsylvania, USA
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC teachers
(Present Time 205, October 2021)