Waddington, K. and Bonaparte, B. 2022. Developing compassionate pedagogical practice with students as co-researchers. UK Society for Research into Higher Educaton & Open University Press.
| Title | Developing compassionate pedagogical practice with students as co-researchers |
|---|---|
| Authors | Waddington, K. and Bonaparte, B. |
| Type | Project report |
| Abstract | This research was a small-scale qualitative study undertaken by a research team comprising seven undergraduate psychology students and three academics working together as co-researchers and co-creators of knowledge. The rationale for the study was in support of the ‘compassion turn’ in higher education (HE), which has arisen in response to the damaging effects to students and staff of neoliberal HE policy. The overarching research questions addressed were: (i) what are the core components of compassionate pedagogy at individual (teacher), module, course and institutional levels of analysis? and (ii) to what extent does working with students as co-researchers enhance the quality, relevance and application of compassionate pedagogical research? The report sets out a conceptual and theoretical framework grounded in critical pedagogy, critical compassion, study crafting, and self-compassion. Study crafting involves enabling students to: (a) increase structural and social study resources; (b) increase challenging study demands/goals; and (c) decrease unhelpful study demands. We advance a definition of compassionate pedagogy arising from the research that challenges the discourse of suffering, offering a more critical, intersectional perspective: Recognising and noticing the difference, discrimination, and bias in how people are being treated, how students are learning and being taught, and the compassionate actions – both strategic and small – that we all need to take to promote and support student and staff wellbeing. We also reflect on how disruption and delays to the research caused by the pandemic led to an appreciation of ‘slow scholarship’ and the importance of ‘Ease’ as a core component of a Thinking Environment, as illustrated in a student co-researcher’s reflection: The workshop atmosphere (everyone respecting each other’s turn to speak, no sense of rush, etc.) made it feel like a relaxing space where I could share my thoughts and ideas on something safely. |
| Keywords | Compassionate pedagogy |
| students as co-creators | |
| Thinking Environment | |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publisher | Society for Research into Higher Educaton & Open University Press |
| Place of publication | UK |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 15 Mar 2023 |
| Funder | Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) |
| File | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Web address (URL) | https://srhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WADDINGTONBONAPARTE_FINAL_REPORT.pdf |