Four people—a young man, a female professor holding an open folder, a woman wearing headphones and glasses, and a young woman with a backpack—stand together indoors and talk.

The case for a pedagogy of compassion

Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

A conversation we keep returning to in higher education is whether rigor is sacrificed when we are flexible with students. We often hear that immovable deadlines, no opportunities to make up work, and strict attendance policies create the best environment for learning while preparing students for the standards they will face in their careers.

But is flexibility really what stands between a student’s success in your course and their success in their future career? Can we meet students where they are without sacrificing academic standards? Or does leading with compassion mean that we become responsible for students’ emotional well-being?

What is a pedagogy of compassion?

The pedagogy of compassion isn’t the opposite of rigor—it’s practicing rigor while keeping the humanity of our students in mind. At its heart, a pedagogy of compassion means recognizing the barriers and challenges students are facing and finding ways to support them.

That support may look different depending on the student and their needs. It might mean listening to them, connecting them with resources, offering flexibility around absences, offering regular support outside of office hours, allowing extensions, or modifying assignment expectations when needed. When we use a lens of compassion, we see students as whole people and recognize that their identities, experiences, needs, and responsibilities can shape the ways they are able to learn and be successful.

Compassion isn’t lowering standards

The pedagogy of compassion also asks us to think about fairness in a different way. Treating every student exactly the same does not always mean that every student has the same opportunity to succeed. We can maintain high standards while also giving students the flexibility and support they need to meet them. The structures, deadlines, and ways of working we ask students to follow may not work for everyone. There are many ways for students to show what they know, what they can do, and what they’ve learned. Making room for these differences does not mean lowering our expectations.

What does a pedagogy of compassion look like?

Learning occurs in context, and students come to our courses with different responsibilities, experiences, and needs. Here are some ways we can maintain rigor in our courses while practicing compassion.

Be Transparent

magnifying glass outline iconMake expectations for the course clear. Share learning objectives, grading criteria, rubrics, and policies with students. When setting these expectations, consider whether they support learning objectives and student success or are primarily focused on student compliance.

This might look like:

  • Creating clear rubrics and discussing them with students before they submit their work for grading.
  • Identifying why specific policies and expectations for the class exist and why they are important.
  • Providing examples of exams, projects, or essays to help students understand expectations and how they will demonstrate their learning.

Be Flexible

calendar outline iconConsider flexibility when creating the course calendar and due dates. Give students opportunities to catch up when they miss class because of illness or important responsibilities. If timing isn’t part of the learning goal, ask yourself whether being flexible about when students complete the assessment could help remove a barrier to showing what they know.

Design coursework with adaptability in mind. Provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate their learning when a particular format or set of expectations may not work for them.

This might look like:

  • Giving students a 24-hour grace period after the deadline without marking their work late.
  • Allowing students to demonstrate learning in different formats, such as a written response, presentation, recorded explanation, or visual project, when the format itself is not being assessed.
  • Creating attendance policies that don’t penalize students with illnesses or responsibilities that cause them to miss class.

Encourage Communication

Silhouettes of two people talking with speech bubble iconProvide multiple ways for students to communicate with you. In addition to class time and office hours, consider meeting students by appointment virtually or in person. You can set boundaries around your availability while creating more opportunities for students to meet with you.

Normalize asking for assistance and clarification. It can be frustrating when students ask questions you feel you’ve already answered. Still, taking the time to respond thoughtfully and point students toward the right resources can help build relationships and make students feel more comfortable reaching out.

This might look like:

  • Providing time outside of office hours for students to schedule meetings with you.
  • Meeting with students virtually if they can’t make your office hours in person.
  • Answering questions that are already outlined on the syllabus and showing students how to find that information for themselves in the future.

Provide Feedback

Icon with pencil writingProvide clear and specific feedback on how to improve work. Mistakes play an essential role in learning. Give students opportunities and guidance to work through the writing and research processes, prepare for exams, and strengthen other skills.

Acknowledge students’ hard work and what they have done well. Creating a growth mindset in our courses means recognizing students’ strengths while encouraging continued growth. When students only see the points they missed on an assessment, it can be difficult for them to recognize what they have accomplished and where they have made progress.

This might look like:

  • Opportunities to submit work early for feedback on drafts.
  • Allowing students to redo work and resubmit it to demonstrate that they have gained proficiency in the skill or learned more about the topic.
  • Scheduling one-on-one meetings with students who are struggling with the coursework.

Connect Students to Resources

Icon of two hands holding a group of people above a heart symbol.Show students what support services are available. Students may benefit from academic success, financial assistance, food security, or mental health services they aren’t aware exist.

This might look like:

Compassion still has boundaries

Effectively implementing the pedagogy of compassion still requires boundaries. Demonstrating compassion towards students doesn’t mean that faculty should be available to students on the weekends or be overwhelmed with grading late work before final grades are due to the university. We can support students without being responsible for solving every challenge they face. When leading with compassion in your teaching, consider what rigid expectations, deadlines, or requirements you could remove to make it easier for students to complete their work while still demonstrating their learning.

Compassion and rigor can coexist

Compassion and rigor don’t have to be competing values. We can hold students to high academic standards while recognizing that students may need different kinds of support to meet those standards. Leading with compassion means being intentional about what we expect, why we expect it, and whether our course structures help students demonstrate what they have learned.

Learn more about the pedagogy of compassion

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