Kindness in the Classroom
“It’s kind of like weight training. Using this systematic approach, we found that people can actually build up their compassion ‘muscle’ and respond to others’ suffering with care and a desire to help.”
—Helen Weng
Resources for Graduate Student Teaching Assistants and Instructors
Visit the Graduate Student Resource Guide for UC, local, and national resources to help you in the classroom:
What Does the Research Show?
- "Brain Can Be Trained in Compassion, Study Shows"
- "Kindness at First Sight? The Role of Syllabi in Impression Format," Nusbaum, Swindell, & Plemons, 2019
- "Kindness in Pedagogical and Academic Life," Clegg & Rowland, 2009
- "Not-So Random Acts of Kindness: A Guide to Intentional Kindness in the Classroom," Cramp & Lamond, 2015
- "The Influence of Affirming Kindness and Community on Broadening Participation in STEM Career Pathways," Estrada, Eroy-Reveles, & Matsul, 2018
- "Quality and Frequency of Faculty-Student Interaction as Predictors of Learning: An Analysis by Student Race/Ethnicity," Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004
Connection Matters!
"The Impact of Faculty and Staff on High-Risk College Student Persistence," Schreiner, Noel, Anderson, & Cantwell, 2011.
Findings
In synthesizing the patterns that emerged from the 62 student interviews and 54 interviews of influential faculty and staff, we identified seven themes related to the positive attitudes and behaviors of campus personnel that made a difference in the success and persistence of high-risk students. These themes included (a) a desire to connect with students, (b) being unaware of their influence on students at critical junctures, (c) wanting to make a difference in students’ lives, (d) possessing a wide variety of personality styles and strengths but being perceived by students as genuine and authentic, (e) being intentional about connecting personally with students, (f ) different approaches utilized by faculty compared to staff, and (g) differences in the types of behaviors that community college students reported as fostering their success. In articulating these themes and patterns, the interviews of the students and the faculty/staff members are woven together.
The Student Connection
Throughout the interviews, we heard the theme of connection. Most successful high-risk students had formed a connection with someone on the campus. The most frequent words used in the student and faculty interviews were those that described people in relationship with one another. For students, words and phrases such as “caring,” “compassionate,” “supportive,” “rapport,” “takes an interest in me,” “helps me,” “makes me feel important,” “respects me,” and “listens to me” permeated their interviews. In the campus personnel interviews, the most frequent theme expressed was student connections: liking students, wanting to spend time with students, enjoying students, supporting students, and, for faculty in particular, interacting with them outside of class. As Levine and Nidiffer (1996) concluded in their study of low-income first-generation students, “it was the human contact that made the difference” (p. 65).
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
—Maya Angelou