Compassionate pedagogy in higher education: A scoping review.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Compassionate pedagogy in higher education: A scoping review.
Authors:	Killingback, Clare¹, Tomlinson, Amy¹, Stern, Julian²
Source:	Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. 2025, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p1-31. 31p.
Subject Terms:	Young adults, Student attitudes, Services for students, Classroom environment, Well-being
Abstract:	There is strong evidence to suggest that the undergraduate student population have lower levels of wellbeing, particularly in terms of anxiety, than young people as a whole. Universities often have good wellbeing support services in place for students but these are most often separate to pedagogic practice. One response to supporting student wellbeing is by drawing on compassionate pedagogies. This scoping review investigates how compassionate pedagogy is conceptualised and realised in contemporary higher education contexts. Through a systematic search across electronic databases, 25 relevant articles were identified, revealing a lack of consistent definition for compassionate pedagogy. The authors synthesised these studies to propose a working definition made up of four components: 1) a noticing of suffering, distress, or disadvantage; 2) a commitment to address or mitigate the suffering, distress, or disadvantage; 3) the promotion of wellbeing and flourishing; 4) a concern for the whole student as a person. The review explores the realisation of compassionate pedagogy at various levels, including institutional, programme (curriculum), module, and individual lecturer perspectives. Further research should investigate the perspectives of students on how compassionate pedagogy can be realised. Institutional perspectives would also be beneficial to understand how compassionate values, policies, and leadership cascade down to the student and staff experiences of compassionate pedagogy in the learning and teaching environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	There is strong evidence to suggest that the undergraduate student population have lower levels of wellbeing, particularly in terms of anxiety, than young people as a whole. Universities often have good wellbeing support services in place for students but these are most often separate to pedagogic practice. One response to supporting student wellbeing is by drawing on compassionate pedagogies. This scoping review investigates how compassionate pedagogy is conceptualised and realised in contemporary higher education contexts. Through a systematic search across electronic databases, 25 relevant articles were identified, revealing a lack of consistent definition for compassionate pedagogy. The authors synthesised these studies to propose a working definition made up of four components: 1) a noticing of suffering, distress, or disadvantage; 2) a commitment to address or mitigate the suffering, distress, or disadvantage; 3) the promotion of wellbeing and flourishing; 4) a concern for the whole student as a person. The review explores the realisation of compassionate pedagogy at various levels, including institutional, programme (curriculum), module, and individual lecturer perspectives. Further research should investigate the perspectives of students on how compassionate pedagogy can be realised. Institutional perspectives would also be beneficial to understand how compassionate values, policies, and leadership cascade down to the student and staff experiences of compassionate pedagogy in the learning and teaching environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	14499789
DOI:	10.53761/7yvrw787