The Caring University: Making the Case for Students' Agency and Capabilities
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| Title: | The Caring University: Making the Case for Students' Agency and Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Mette Hjort (ORCID |
| Source: | Educational Philosophy and Theory. 2025 57(3):222-234. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Caring, Universities, College Students, Mental Health, Personal Autonomy, Academic Ability, World Problems, Well Being, Institutional Characteristics, Differences, Knowledge Level, Tutors, Staff Role, Daily Living Skills, Foreign Countries, Case Studies, Community Involvement |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom (England) |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00131857.2024.2436085 |
| ISSN: | 0013-1857 1469-5812 |
| Abstract: | While concepts of care and caring have a long history, the terms have become especially prominent in recent times. Care and caring, I argue, have emerged as what philosopher Charles Taylor calls 'moral sources,' uber-concepts that allow for moral deliberation, the prioritization of preferences, and our identity formation as persons. Linking the current salience of care to a growing awareness of the dynamics of a crisis- and catastrophe-ridden world, I consider care within the context of university students' declining mental health. Acknowledging role differentiation within universities and the contributions of Well-being units with specialist knowledge, I contend that frontline tutors without such knowledge have an important role to play in developing alternatives to an increasingly pervasive medicalised conception of care, one that constitutes students as passive patients. Drawing on Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Zen's capabilities approach to human flourishing, I suggest that there is considerable scope, within the civil society environments of the university sector, for life skills-oriented practices of care that are profoundly agential, and, through this, curative, protective, and liberating. I illustrate the relevance of the theoretical propositions through a case study of a collaborative performance of the 'Shout at Cancer Choir' (aka 'Laryngectomy Choir') at the University of Lincoln, UK, in 2023. The aim is to show how particular forms of community engagement, within or beyond the formal curriculum, create capabilities-based conditions for students' flourishing. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1467800 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | While concepts of care and caring have a long history, the terms have become especially prominent in recent times. Care and caring, I argue, have emerged as what philosopher Charles Taylor calls 'moral sources,' uber-concepts that allow for moral deliberation, the prioritization of preferences, and our identity formation as persons. Linking the current salience of care to a growing awareness of the dynamics of a crisis- and catastrophe-ridden world, I consider care within the context of university students' declining mental health. Acknowledging role differentiation within universities and the contributions of Well-being units with specialist knowledge, I contend that frontline tutors without such knowledge have an important role to play in developing alternatives to an increasingly pervasive medicalised conception of care, one that constitutes students as passive patients. Drawing on Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Zen's capabilities approach to human flourishing, I suggest that there is considerable scope, within the civil society environments of the university sector, for life skills-oriented practices of care that are profoundly agential, and, through this, curative, protective, and liberating. I illustrate the relevance of the theoretical propositions through a case study of a collaborative performance of the 'Shout at Cancer Choir' (aka 'Laryngectomy Choir') at the University of Lincoln, UK, in 2023. The aim is to show how particular forms of community engagement, within or beyond the formal curriculum, create capabilities-based conditions for students' flourishing. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0013-1857 1469-5812 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00131857.2024.2436085 |
