Kindness, Communication and Academic Responsibility in Higher Education

In Paul Gibbs, Jill Jameson & Alex Elwick (eds.), Values of the University in a Time of Uncertainty. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Verlag (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss functions of kindness in social practices guided by values in higher education. Definitions of kindness are briefly discussed and kindness is handled as a quality in social interactions between teacher and students, and between students. It is argued that kindness must be seen in a framework of values of higher education that are guiding the social interactions discussed – interactions that in turn are presumed to promote and communicate such values and facilitate an academic development in line with these values. Quality of communication is suggested as an overall value for this purpose, as it is argued that quality of communication in a broad sense is at the core in every academic endeavour, both in research and in higher education. Communication is further related to academic freedom and academic responsibility, seen as two sides of the same coin. The overall discussion focuses on how kindness can promote communication in higher education, and on how kindness as thus can be seen in terms of academic responsibility for both teachers and students. A caveat is that kindness is not about delimiting what can be said in an academic discourse, as this is guided by academic freedom, but of how it ought to be said to enable the best outcome in relation to academic values. It is also discussed how communication and academic freedom, in relation to kindness, are influenced by whether students are seen as customers, as victims, or as free adults being academic partners in the construction of knowledge.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Fulfilling the Promise of Academic Freedom.Kurt Biedenkopf - 2009 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 76 (4):805-810.
Fulfilling the Promise of Academic Freedom.Kurt Biedenkopf - 2009 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 76 (3):805-810.
Embedding Academic Integrity in Public Universities.Loreta Tauginienė - 2016 - Journal of Academic Ethics 14 (4):327-344.
Changing cultures? Government intervention in higher education 1987–93.Mary Tasker & David Packham - 1994 - British Journal of Educational Studies 42 (2):150-162.
Changing cultures? Government intervention in higher education 1987–93.Mary Tasker & David Packham - 1994 - British Journal of Educational Studies 42 (2):150-162.
Academic Freedom and the Diminished Subject.Dennis Hayes - 2009 - British Journal of Educational Studies 57 (2):127-145.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-02-07

Downloads
2 (#1,634,744)

6 months
2 (#668,348)

Historical graph of downloads

Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references