Politicised compassion and pedagogical partnership: A discourse and practice for social justice in the inclusive academy

Authors

  • Suanne Gibson University of Plymouth
  • Alison Cook-Sather

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i1.3996

Keywords:

politicised compassion, pedagogical partnership, social justice, equality, student experience

Abstract

Despite changes prompted by global legalisation and policy developments for social justice and inclusion, many institutions of higher education remain driven by neoliberal values, an endemic culture of performativity, and an emphasis on individual success. These phenomena inform, disfigure, and invert inclusion and equality in policy, practice, and outcome. In response, we propose politicised compassion fostered through pedagogical partnership as a political and social justice reaction to the status quo. This paper explores this proposal, grounding it in international research studies on student experience, partnership, and equality. The work’s novelty is in its advancement of Zembylas’ (2013) work on “critical compassion” through what we term politicised compassion with the goal of enabling sustained student agency, student success, and the creation of active, considerate citizens. Our work invites critical considerations of where such a discourse for meaningful social justice and equality can take place within the academy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

References
Agamben, G. 1998. Homer Sacer: Sovereign power and bare life, trans. D. Heller-Roazen. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Ahmed, S., & Swain, E. (2006). Doing diversity. Policy Futures in Education, 4(2), 96-100. https://doi.org/10.2304%2Fpfie.2006.4.2.96
Allan, J. (2015). Waiting for inclusive education? An exploration of conceptual confusions and political struggles. In F. Kiuppis & R. S. Hausstatter (Eds.), Inclusive education: Twenty years after Salamanaca (pp. 181-190). New York: Peter Lang.
ARC. (2013). Literature review of research into widening participation to higher education. Report to HEFCE and OFFA by ARC Network.
Barnes, C., & Oliver, M. (2010). Disability studies, disabled people and the struggle for inclusion. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31(5), 547-560. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2010.500088
Beauchamp-Pryor, K. (2012). From absent to active voices: Securing disability equality within higher education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(3), 283-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2010.489120
Bovill, C., (2017). A framework to explore roles within student-staff partnerships in higher education: Which students are partners, when, and in what ways? International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3062
Bracken, S., & Novak, K. (Eds.) (2019). Transforming higher education through universal design for learning: An international perspective. Routledge.
Burke, P. J. (2012). The right to higher education. London: Routledge.
Burke, P. J., Bennett, A., Burgess, C., Gray, K., & Southgate, E. (2016). Capability, belonging and equity in higher education: Developing inclusive approaches. Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education research report submitted to the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Curtin University: Perth. Retrieved from https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/capability-belonging-and-equity-in-higher-education-developing-inclusive-approaches/
Cook-Sather, A. (2015). Dialogue across differences of position, perspective, and identity: Reflective practice in/on a student-faculty pedagogical partnership program. Teachers College Record, 117(2).
Cook-Sather, A. (2016). Undergraduate students as partners in new faculty orientation and academic development. International Journal of Academic Development, 21(2), 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1156543
Cook-Sather, A. (2018a). Developing “Students as Learners and Teachers”: Lessons from ten years of pedagogical partnership that strives to foster inclusive and responsive practice. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 4(1). Retrieved from https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/746
Cook-Sather, A. (2018b). Listening to equity-seeking perspectives: How students’ experiences of pedagogical partnership can inform wider discussions of student success. Higher Education Research and Development, 37(5), 923-936. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2018.1457629
Cook-Sather, A. (2019). Respecting voices: How the co-creation of teaching and learning can support academic staff, underrepresented students, and equitable practices. Higher Education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00445-w
Cook-Sather, A., & Agu, P. (2012, October). Students of color and faculty colleagues developing voice in the “counter-spaces” of a professional development program. Paper presented at the Conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, Seattle, Washington.
Cook-Sather, A., & Agu, P. (2013). Students of color and faculty members working together toward culturally sustaining pedagogy. In J. E. Groccia & L. Cruz (Eds.), To improve the academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development (Vol. 32, pp. 271-285). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cook-Sather, A., Bahti, M., & Ntem, A. (2019). Pedagogical partnerships: A how-to guide for faculty, students, and academic developers in higher education. Elon University Center for Engaged Teaching Open Access Series.
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Cook-Sather, A., Des-Ogugua, C., & Bahti, M. (2018). Articulating identities and analyzing belonging: A multistep intervention that affirms and informs a diversity of students. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(3), 374-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1391201
Cook-Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2017). Ethics of academic leadership: Guiding learning and teaching. In F. Su, & M. Wood (Eds.), Cosmopolitan perspectives on academic leadership in higher education (pp. 175-191). London, UK: Bloomsbury.
Cook-Sather, A., Prasad, S. K., Marquis, E., & Ntem, A. (2019). Mobilizing a Culture Shift on Campus: Underrepresented Students as Educational Developers. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 159, 21-30.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
de Bie, A., Marquis, E., Cook-Sather, A., & Luqueño, L. P. (2019). Promoting equity and inclusion through pedagogical partnership. Manuscript in preparation.
de Bie, A., Marquis, E., Cook-Sather, A., & Luqueño, L. P. (2019). Valuing knowledge(s) and cultivating confidence: Contributing to epistemic justice via student-faculty pedagogical partnerships. In J. Hoffman, P. Blessinger, & Makhanya, M. (Eds.), Strategies for fostering inclusive classrooms in higher education: International perspectives on equity and inclusion. Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (Vol. 16, pp. 35-48). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120190000016004
Delgado Bernal, D. (2002). Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: Recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F107780040200800107
Department for Education and Skills. (2003). The future of higher education. London, HMSO.
Department for Education and Skills. (2004). Higher education act. London, HMSO.
Fielding, M. (1999). Radical collegiality: Affirming teaching as an inclusive professional practice. Australian Educational Researcher, 26(2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03219692
Fleras, A. (2011). Cooling out troublesome constituents: The politics of managing ‘isms’ in the antipodes. In R. Hasmath (Ed.), Managing ethnic diversity: Meanings and practices from an international perspective. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate.
Gale, T., & Hodge, S. (2014). Just imaginary: Delimiting social inclusion in higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(5), 688-709. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2014.919841
Gibson, S. (2006). Beyond a “culture of silence”: Inclusive education and the liberation of “voice.” Disability and Society, 21(4).
Gibson, S. (2012). Narrative accounts of university education: Socio-cultural perspectives of students with disabilities. Disability and Society, 27(3), 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.654987
Gibson, S. (2015). When rights are not enough: What is? Moving towards new pedagogy for inclusive education within UK universities. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(8), 875-886. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2015.1015177
Gibson, S. & Baskerville, D. (Eds.) (2017). The politics of care, compassion and concern in the contemporary academy [Special issue]. Pastoral Care in Education, 35(3).
Gibson, S., Baskerville, D., Berry, A., Black, A., Norris, K., & Symeonidou, S. (2016). ‘Diversity’ ‘widening participation’ and ‘inclusion’ in higher education: An international study. Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 18(3), 7-33. https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.18.3.7
Gibson, S., Baskerville, D., Berry, A., Black, A., Norris, K., & Symeonidou, S. (2017). Including students as co-enquirers: Matters of identity, agency, language and labelling in an International participatory research study, International Journal of Educational Research, 81, 108-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2016.11.008
Gibson, S., Grace, A., O’Sullivan, C., & Pritchard, C. (2018). Exploring transitions into the undergraduate University world using a student-centred framework. Teaching in Higher Education, 24(7), 819-833. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1511538
Gibson, S., & Kendall, L. (2010). Stories from school: Dyslexia and learners’ voices on factors impacting on achievement. Support for Learning, 25(4), 187-193. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9604.2010.01465.x
Giroux, H. (2010). Bare pedagogy and the scourge of neoliberalism: Rethinking higher education as a democratic public sphere. The Educational Forum, 74(3), 184-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2010.483897
Gross, C., Gottburgsen, A., & Phoenix, A. (2016). Education systems and intersectionality. In A. Hadjar & C. Gross (Eds.), Education systems and inequalities: International comparisons (pp. 15-72). Bristol: Policy Press.
Grummell, B., Devine, D., & Lynch, K. (2009). The care-less manager: Gender, care and new managerialism in higher education. Gender and Education, 21(2), 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250802392273
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Academy, York. Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher
Healey, R. L., Lerczak, A., Welsh, K., & France, D. (2019). By any other name? The impacts of differing assumptions, expectations, and misconceptions in bringing about resistance to staff-student partnership. International Journal for Students as Partners, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3550
Hockings, C. (2010). Inclusive learning and teaching in HE: A synthesis of research. Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-learning-and-teaching-higher-education-synthesis-research
Hughes, K. (2015). The social inclusion meme in higher education: Are universities doing enough? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(3), 303-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2014.930518
Jack, A. A. (2019). The privileged poor: How elite colleges are failing disadvantaged students. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Jaschick, S. (2016, November 14). Tensions, protests, incidents. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/11/14/protests-and-incidents-spread-following-trump-election-victory
Liasidou, A. (2014). Critical disability studies and socially just change in higher education. British Journal of Special Education, 41(2), 120-135. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12063
Lynch, K. (2010). Carelessness: A hidden doxa of higher education, arts and humanities. Higher Education, 9(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1474022209350104
Madriaga, M. (2007). Enduring disablism: Students with dyslexia and their pathways into UK higher education and beyond. Disability and Society, 22(4), 399-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590701337942
Madriaga, M., Hanson, K., Kay, H., & Walker, A. (2011). Marking-out normalcy and disability in higher education. British Journal Special Education, 32(6), 901-920. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2011.596380
Mann, S. J. (2001). Alternative perspectives on the student experience: Alienation and engagement. Studies in Higher Education, 26(1), 7-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070020030689
Marquis, E., Jayaratnam, A., Mishra, A., & Rybkina, K. (2018). “I feel like some students are better connected”: Students’ perspectives on applying for extracurricular partnership opportunities. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 64-81. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3300
Matthews, K. E. (2017). Five propositions for genuine students as partners practice. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i2.3315
Matthews, K. E., Cook-Sather, A., Acai, A., Dvorakova, S. L., Felten, P., Marquis, E., & Mercer-Mapstone, L. (2019). Toward theories of partnership praxis: An analysis of interpretive framing in literature on students as partners in university teaching and learning. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2018.1530199
Mercer-Mapstone, L., Islam, M., & Reid, T. (2019). Are we just engaging ‘the usual suspects’? Challenges in and practical strategies for supporting equity and diversity in student–staff partnership initiatives. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2019.1655396
Mutch, C., & Tatebe, J. (2017). From collusion to collective compassion: Putting heart back into the neoliberal university. Pastoral Care in Education, 35(3), 221-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2017.1363814
Nash, J. C. (2008). Rethinking intersectionality. Feminist Review, 89, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1057%2Ffr.2008.4
New, J. (2016, February 11). Get ready for more protests. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/11/survey-finds-nearly-1-10-freshmen-plan-participating-campus-protests
Oliver, M. & Zarb, G. (1989). The politics of disability: A new approach. Disability and Society, 4(3), 221-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/02674648966780261
Perez, K. (2016). Striving toward a space for equity and inclusion in physics classrooms. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 18. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss18/3
Quinn, J. (2013). Drop-out and completion in higher education in Europe among students from under-represented groups. (Report of the Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training [NESET]). Retrieved from https://nesetweb.eu/en/resources/library/drop-out-and-completion-in-higher-education-in-europe-among-students-from-under-represented-groups/
Rashedi, R., Plante, T. G., & Callister, E. S. (2015). Compassion development in higher education. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 43(2), 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F009164711504300205
Slee, R. (2008). Beyond special and regular schooling? An inclusive education reform agenda. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 18(2), 99-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620210802351342
Solórzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. (2000). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students. The Journal of Negro Education, 69(1/2), 60-73.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development and Office of the Under Secretary. (2016). Advancing diversity and inclusion in higher education. Washington, D.C. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf.
Volk, S. (2017, April 24). New student activism: Stops on the road to new solidarities [Blog post]. Teaching and Learning at Oberlin College. Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence, Oberline College. Retrieved from http://languages.oberlin.edu/blogs/ctie/2017/04/23/new-student-activism-stops-on-the-road-to-new-solidarities/
Walker, M. (2010). Pedagogy for rich human being-ness in global times. In Unterhalter, E. & Carpentier, V. (Eds.), Global inequalities and higher education (pp. 219-240). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Warwick, P. (2016). Education for sustainable development: A movement towards pedagogies of civic compassion. FORUM, 58(3), 407-414. https://doi.org/10.15730/forum.2016.58.3.407
Zembylas, M. (2013). The “crisis of pity” and the radicalization of solidarity: Toward critical pedagogies of compassion. Educational Studies, 49(6), 504-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2013.844148
Zembylas, M., Bozalek, V., & Shefer, T. (2014). Tronto's notion of privileged irresponsibility and the reconceptualisation of care: Implications for critical pedagogies of emotion in higher education. Gender and Education, 26(3), 200-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2014.901718

Downloads

Published

2020-04-09

How to Cite

Gibson, S., & Cook-Sather, A. (2020). Politicised compassion and pedagogical partnership: A discourse and practice for social justice in the inclusive academy. International Journal for Students as Partners, 4(1), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i1.3996

Issue

Section

Research Articles