Considering COVID-19: Autoethnographic Reflections on Working Practices in a Time of Crisis by Two Disabled UK Academics

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic caused dramatic changes in all aspects of daily life. As the British public was ordered to stay at home, non-essential businesses shut their doors, resulting in an abrupt shift in working practices towards home working. In Higher Education, university campuses closed to students and staff. In this article, two disabled lecturers working in Higher Education in the UK reflect on their experiences during this rapid shift in working practices. With a particular focus on how their different impairments intersected with the changes occurring during this time, they employ autoethnography as an emancipatory method to consider the ways in which their working lives were impacted by the decisions made during this period. As well as illuminating their own individual experiences, they use these accounts to consider the wider implications for disabled students and academics. They conclude that, whilst this has been a period of challenge, uncertainty and rapid change, there are also lessons to be learnt regarding accessibility and the possibility for adaptation going forward, for staff and students alike. They suggest that as we emerge from this period of crisis, we need to use these experiences as leverage for positive change; for designing ways of teaching and learning that accommodate everyone, rather than getting swept up in an unthinking pursuit of returning to ‘business as usual’.