Faculty and Student Perspectives of Critical Pedagogies of Care in an Arabian Gulf Liberal Arts University

Abstract

Culturally and historically sensitive material and highly diverse student bodies challenge educators in the higher education classroom. Transformative and empowering pedagogies address how different types of learners may experience sensitive material. Critical pedagogies of care create supportive educational environments, compassionate teaching practices, and empower students through diversified content. Pedagogies of discomfort, a subset of pedagogies of care, push educators and students to leave their comfort zones, recognize the non-neutrality of educational processes, and confront the discomfort of challenging knowledge. When applied correctly, these pedagogies promote critical thinking and transformative action, and counter the neoliberal and white supremacist values that often exist within the classroom. Using around 1900 survey responses and 40 in-depth interviews with students and faculty, this research studies the question: to what extent are critical pedagogies of care enacted and experienced at a global liberal arts college in the Arabian Gulf?

Keywords

• critical pedagogy
• pedagogy of discomfort
• pedagogy of care
• transformational learning
• troubled knowledge
• arabian gulf liberal arts university