Compassion and the student experience

Abstract

This contribution highlights the way in which compassionate approaches to student support can have a significant impact on the student experience. In our roles as Graduate Academic Assistants (GAAs), we find compassion in many aspects of students' learning and their university lives. Our experience as recent undergraduates have lead us to take on a pastoral approach, offering support within learning and teaching to over 500 undergraduate students studying on BA Education Studies and BA Early Childhood Studies. Our support sessions are popular as students see us as bridging the gap between students and academics. Our primary aim is to ensure students are able to overcome barriers that can inhibit their studies and progression within their programmes. We create welcoming environments where students feel comfortable discussing a variety of concerns in relation to academia as well as personal issues. We also run one to one support sessions, where students feel respected and valued as they are receiving personalised support. Our use of compassion is manifest in compassionate supportive environment in a number of ways: in recognising and dealing with students' suffering of anxieties in relations to their studies; by offering them not only sympathy, empathy and inclusion but also reassurance; providing positive role models and relationships, and extending this support from individual to groups of students. In this context we offer a number of examples of our compassion practice: kindness and reassurance.