Getting to Know Your Students and an Educational Ethic of Care

Abstract

In the 10 years since Hawk and Lyons published, "Please Don't Give Up on Me: When Faculty Fail to Care" in Journal of Management Education, much has changed about the nature of pedagogical caring, relational learning, and the instructor-student relationship per se. The landscape of expectations for the type and depth of relationships faculty will have with students has shifted toward a blurring of relational boundaries and roles. Chory and Offstein's article in the first Journal of Management Education issue of 2017, "'Your Professor Will Know You as a Person': Evaluating and Rethinking the Relational Boundaries Between Faculty and Students" draws on Hawk and Lyons and critically examines the advisability of extending an ethic of care to situations outside the classroom setting. In this essay, I engage with Chory and Offstein's work and the three rejoinders that accompanied it in Journal of Management Education, Volume 41, Issue 1, and share specific ways in which faculty can "get to know their students" that directly benefits student learning.

“The Ones that Care Make all the Difference”: Perspectives on Student-Faculty Relationships

“…An ethics of care theoretical lens applied to teaching in higher education (Hawk, 2017;Hawk & Lyons, 2008;Keeling, 2014) resonates with our findings and helps underscore several implications for our work:…”

“…actual behaviors and feelings that enhance student learning) and it is influenced by the learner-teacher context. In the ethics of care process (Hawk, 2017;Hawk & Lyons, 2008), the carer should be: (1) engrossed with those being cared for, (2) motivated by the needs of the ones being cared for and empathizing with them (not "self-referencing" and considering how one might do or act differently in the same circumstance), (3) committed to the success of the relationship as well as each individual in it, and (4) cognizant that those cared for have the best of intentions and should be viewed in a positive light. Carers in teaching must be "attentive" and "listen" to the experiences of students so that they can understand students' expressed needs (Noddings, 2012).…”

Enabling the Exploration of Disorienting Dilemma in the Classroom

“…While much of their argument focuses on questionable faculty behavior outside of the classroom, and the implications of this behavior on the student experience, they also highlight methods for supporting faculty interested in this pedagogical approach, such as creating space in departmental meetings to discuss issues associated with this approach, enhancing the hiring process to include an understanding of the candidate’s teaching approach, establishing mentoring programs, and expanding professional development offerings to address these issues. Hawk (2017) responded to Chory and Offstein’s essay, acknowledging that, “the type and depth of relationships faculty will have with students has shifted toward a blurring of relational boundaries and roles” (p. 669). He reminds readers that the “ethic of care” that he and co-author Lyons wrote about in 2008 compel “faculty who care for the well-being of their students must exercise reason and judgment in assessing the unique characteristics of the students, the context, and the situation” (p. 673).…”

How to Become Involved in JME? Joining the Peer-Review Process

“…Following a series of contract positions, she became a full-time education-focused lecturer (“Assistant Professor”) in 2019. Many articles in JME helped to shape her teaching practices, including those about how to get to know your students (Hawk, 2017), encouraging effective teamwork assessment and student learning (Kemery & Stickney, 2014), and how to build and maintain a sense of safety among students when engaging in experiential activities (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015). Other highly influential papers included those focused on educating students about learning from failure when teaching entrepreneurship (Shepherd, 2004), the “crisis of confidence” in business schools (Harley, 2019), and the distressing experience of manuscript rejection (Day, 2011)—which we recommend as a “must-read” piece for all authors!…”