Towards a Philosophy of Caring in Higher Education

Towards a Philosophy of Caring in Higher Education
Author: Yusef Waghid
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2018-12-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030039617

This book advances a re-imagined view of caring in higher education. The author proposes an argument of rhythmic caring, whereby teachers hold back or release their judgments in such a way that students’ judgments are influenced accordingly. In doing so, the author argues that rhythmic caring encourages students to become more willing and confident in articulating their understandings, judgments and opinions, rather than being prematurely judged and prevented from re-articulating themselves. Thus, rhythmic caring can engender a different understanding of higher education: one that is connected to the cultivation of values such as autonomy, justice, empathy, mutual respect and Ubuntu (human dignity and interdependence). This book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of caring within education, as well as Ubuntu caring through the African context.

Education, Crisis and Philosophy

Education, Crisis and Philosophy
Author: Yusef Waghid
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2022-03-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000566358

This book brings together a discussion of educational philosophy, nihilism and humanity to rethink education in times of crisis, with a particular focus on teaching and learning in universities. The book argues that an educational crisis manifests when the value of academic institutions come under attack, looking closely at how higher education practices have been devalued. The book is situated in the context of three intertwined crises; the coronavirus pandemic, economic decline resulting in poverty and unemployment, and the crisis of human migration. It questions what the role of education is, or ought to be, in times of crisis and how our humanity ought to be cultivated during such turbulent times. This novel and timely text will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of educational philosophy, higher education and international education.

Caring

Caring
Author: Nel Noddings
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2013-09-14
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0520275705

With numerous examples to supplement her rich theoretical discussion, Nel Noddings builds a compelling philosophical argument for an ethics based on natural caring, as in the care of a mother for her child. In Caring—now updated with a new preface and afterword reflecting on the ongoing relevance of the subject matter—the author provides a wide-ranging consideration of whether organizations, which operate at a remove from the caring relationship, can truly be called ethical. She discusses the extent to which we may truly care for plants, animals, or ideas. Finally, she proposes a realignment of education to encourage and reward not just rationality and trained intelligence, but also enhanced sensitivity in moral matters.

Questioning Care in Higher Education

Questioning Care in Higher Education
Author: Sally Baker
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2023-10-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3031418298

This book explores questions of care in higher education. Using Joan Tronto’s seven signs that institutions are not caring well, the authors examine whether students and staff consider universities to be caring institutions. As such, they outline how universities systematically, structurally, and actively ‘undercare’ when it comes to supporting students and staff, a phenomenon which was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on scholarly ideas from the sociology of care, higher education, social justice, and feminist critique, and in dialogue with empirical insights gathered with people who work and study in universities in Australia, South Africa, and the UK, the book questions why people care, as well as why adopting a caring position in higher education can be viewed as radical. The authors conclude by asking what we can do to counter that view by thinking carefully about the purpose, power, and plurality of care, before imagining how we can create more caring universities.

Philosophical Adventures in African Higher Education

Philosophical Adventures in African Higher Education
Author: Yusef Waghid
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2024-10-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1040185746

This seminal volume delves into some of the doctoral research and pedagogical experiences within an African higher education context, making a case for the transformative potential of education and the integration of African indigenous philosophies into global educational practices. Through a collection of vivid narratives, the book situates philosophy of higher education by embodying the doctoral researcher and their initiation into academic life, revealing how doctoral pursuits in African higher education are not simply academic endeavours but deeply philosophical adventures that challenge, critique, and reimagine the role of education in society. Chapters advocate for a dynamic educational system that, rooted in African philosophies, nurtures democratic citizenship, embraces critical engagement, and fosters social justice. A call to action for researchers, students, and policy makers alike to view doctoral research as a powerful catalyst for change, the book offers fresh perspectives on addressing the continent's unique challenges, contributing to a more just and inclusive world. Ultimately considering the potential of academic research to shape the future of societies, both within Africa and globally, the book will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students involved with the philosophy of education, higher education, and citizenship education, as well as these areas in African contexts specifically.

Chronicles on African Philosophy of Higher Education

Chronicles on African Philosophy of Higher Education
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2023-05-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9004543805

The central argument in this book revolves around the significance of an African philosophy of higher education. Such a philosophy is geared towards cultivating democratic iterations, co-belonging, and critique within human encounters. Together, these actions can enhance intellectual activism within and beyond the encounters. A philosophy of higher education is constituted by a philosophical act of reflexivity according to which (how), freedom (both autonomous and communal), cosmopolitanism (learning to live with differences and otherness), and caring with others (ubuntu) can be rhythmically practised. What makes an African philosophy of higher education distinctive and realisable is that practices ought to be based on iterations, co-belonging, and critique. If intellectual activism were not to become a major act of resistance on the basis of which educational, political, and societal dystopias can be undermined, such a philosophy of higher education would not have a real purpose. An African philosophy of higher education is an intellectually activist endeavour because of its concern to be oppositional to constraints in and about higher education. In conversation with such an understanding of this philosophy, contributors to this volume offer responses to why human freedom, cosmopolitanism, and caring with others (ubuntu) can be rhythmically enacted.

Care in Education

Care in Education
Author: Sandra Wilde
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2013-01-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135094098

This philosophical commentary explores the meaning and significance of care in education, demonstrating how teaching with care enriches the art and soul of pedagogy. Wilde draws upon Western and Eastern philosophies that envision an integrated image of care to illuminate the value of cultivating understanding in the form of awareness, and compassion leading to right action. Comments and stories from teachers’ experiences demonstrate important aspects of care that are easily overlooked, such as present attention, listening and teacher, well-being. Although it uncovers a tragic conflict between caring and aspects of contemporary schooling, this book offers hope for teachers. It shares a vision of practice that has the potential to re-enliven and strengthen care even in the midst of these difficulties. It also offers a contemplative approach to pedagogy that calls educators into intentional action, showing them how to renew their deep ethical connections to students, to subject matter and to the world.

Higher Education and Love

Higher Education and Love
Author: Victoria de Rijke
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030823717

This book explicitly unites the concepts of higher education and love to examine how these concepts are mutually compatible. As the world of higher education moves towards the metrics of value, and the worth of knowledge becomes more valued in its use rather than its discovery, a crisis brews. If higher education is to contribute to the wellbeing of the self and of others, then the institution needs to be radically reviewed to see if, and how, love contributes to higher education within and beyond its walls. This book addresses the core question of what would the university might be like, today and into the future, if the timeless notion of love was the basis of its educative process, notwithstanding the material artefacts the university helps to create, but also as a way of framing approaches to higher education.

Towards an Ubuntu University

Towards an Ubuntu University
Author: Yusef Waghid
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2023-04-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3031064542

This book explores the argument to reconsider the idea of a university in light of the African ethic of ubuntu; literally, human dignity and interdependence. The book discusses, through the context of higher education discourse of philosophy and comparative education, how global universities have evolved into higher educational institutions concerned with knowledge (re)production for various end purposes that range from individual autonomy, to public accountability, to serving the interests of the economy and markets. The question can legitimately be asked: Is an ubuntu university different from an entrepreneurial university, thinking university, and ecological university? While these different understandings of a university accentuate both the epistemological and moral imperatives in relation to itself and the societies in which they manifest, it is through the ubuntu university that emotivism in the forms of dignity and humaneness will enhance a university’s capacity for autonomy, responsibility, and criticality. This book would be of academic interest to university educators and students in philosophy of education, comparative education, and cultural studies.

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education
Author: Ernest Stromberg
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2023-05-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000870766

This volume explores the current state of student mental health and trauma while offering theories and practice of trauma-informed teaching and learning. The interdisciplinary authors gathered in this collection discuss the roles, practices, and structures in higher education that can support the wellness and academic success of students who suffer from the effects of traumatic experiences. Chapters cover topics on teaching traumatic materials ethically and effectively, reading and writing to support recovery and healing from trauma, inclusive pedagogies responsive to systemically inflicted trauma, and developing institutional structures to support trauma-informed pedagogies. This timely and important book is designed for faculty in institutions of higher education seeking to meaningfully cultivate trauma-informed classes and learning experiences for their students.