Institutions
On this page we explore different perspectives on how we think about compassionate institutions, why compassion is important for higher education institutions and what this means for us in practice. We draw on Dr Kathryn Waddington’s work on compassionate universities to consider how an ethics of care can support staff to help students learn and to develop compassionate citizens.
Why are compassionate institutions important ?
Compassionate pedagogy doesn’t exist in a vacuum, rather, it is entangled in an ecology of compassionate leadership, policies and practices. In this regard, compassion is a collective not an individual act. It is seen in institutional cultures. Institutional support and commitment from senior leadership to develop compassionate policies and practices for staff is essential to effect structural and cultural change, and to create racially just environments for students and staff. Dr Kathryn Waddington points out that commitment to changing cultures involves all levels – individual, group and organisational. This also supports teaching staff and ensures that the emotional burden of addressing inequity is collectively shared.
To explore further, listen to this interview with Dr Kathryn Waddington on The Real Agenda podcast:
Leadership
What does compassionate leadership look and feel like? How can we demonstrate that we care and value those around us? Brene Brown reminds us that we need to attend to the feelings of the people we lead. We need to invite multiplicity and difference in how we approach compassionate leadership so that it can be meaningful, authentic and individualised. In fact, a diversity of approaches within an educational community offers a richness that is beneficial to respond to differing needs.
We are drawn to the social philosophy of Ubuntu as a relational and connected form of compassionate leadership. Ubuntu derives from the Bantu Nguni languages of Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, and Ndebele. In her article Ubuntu: A Transformative Leadership Philosophy, Dr Lisa B. Ncube writes that the hallmarks of Ubuntu are harmony and continuity. Forming the essence of many traditional African cultures, Ubuntu nurtures community, hospitality and respect. You can watch this TedX Talk by Shola Richards to find out more:
Policies
We can face structural barriers to enacting compassion in higher education. Academic and technical staff often share frustration with policies that do not reflect their experiences of teaching, learning and assessment. Prof. Stephen Ball reminds us that policies don’t tell us exactly what to do but instead create the conditions for a more limited set of options or focused outcomes. They can be enacted in different ways in different contexts. Prof. Patrick Bailey’s expanded definition of policy is a helpful way to think about what we mean by compassionate policy. Prof. Bailey states that policy is not just the object (or guidance document) but all the complex relationships involved in production, such as design, making and implementation as well as outcomes such as enactment, influence and practice. When we begin to design and implement compassionate policies it is important to consider how compassion works across the ‘policy staircase’, what the unintended consequences might be and how policy supports the transformation to become and sustain a compassionate organisation.
How can we understand if our policies are compassionate?
In their book, The Slow Professor, Prof. Maggie Berg and Prof. Barbara Seeber make a compelling case for the need to slow down as an ethical imperative to avoid self-harm and to develop patience and compassionate institutions. Liz Bunting, in her research on Belonging reminds us that the reflexivity needed to enact compassion is dependent on ‘time’ and ‘headspace’.
Taking this as a premise for reflection on policy frameworks, we can consider the following:
How does this policy shift institutional values to include an ethics of care? (Dr Kathryn Waddington)
In what ways does this policy offer the conditions, expectations and opportunities to develop emotional competence and care? (Prof. Andy Hargreaves)
What considerations are developed to build staff capacity to implement a compassionate policy (such as reward & recognition)?
How do students and staff experience compassion in the enactment of this policy? (Vikki Hill)
What does compassionate policy look like in practice ?
In Vikki's forthcoming book chapter, Enacting Compassion in Higher Education: Academic staff experiences of a No Detriment Policy on pass/fail assessment Vikki Hill explores whether a no detriment policies of pass/fail assessment could be considered compassionate. Vikki presents the impact of personal beliefs on policy enactment alongside ways to translate policy into compassionate praxis and the institutional barriers to compassionate enactment.
You can listen to a talk here that expands on the no detriment policy and introduces Belonging through Assessment: Pipelines of Compassion – the QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project 2021, led by University of the Arts London with colleagues at Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts university:
The whole self, looks at assessment policies through the lens of Trauma-informed practice. You can read more about Trauma-informed practice on our theoretical perspectives page here. We offer reflective questions for policy makers to ‘redress the impact of trauma’ by applying Victoria Hummer, Dr Norin Dollard and Prof. Kimberly Crosland’s principles of trauma informed care.
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Connect – how do policies support building and maintaining relationships within university communities?
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Protect – how do policies support building emotional, cognitive, physical and interpersonal safety?
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Respect – how do policies empower students and staff through choice and voice, promoting agency, sharing power and decision making?
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Redirect – how do policies encourage skills building and competence, enabling students to have positive futures?