How kind is too kind in higher education? From ‘sincerity and justness’ to ‘falsity and inequality’

ABSTRACT ‘Be Kind’ became the catch phrase of Jacinda Ardern and her government during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand. But in higher education – ‘how kind is too kind?’. This qualitative research project employed a Pedagogy of Kindness to explore 13 university lecturers’ experiences of kindness. Thematic analysis identified the impact that kindness had on participants’ teaching and well-being. Two themes across continuums were identified: ‘from kindness as sincerity’ to ‘too kind as falsity’ and ‘from kindness as justness’ to ‘too kind as injustice’. Participants positioned towards the sincerity and justness ends of the continuums expressed compassion, trusted their students, and did not feel they were being or were required to be too kind. For them, there was no cost to being kind. At the falsity and inequality ends of the continuums, participants expressed suspicion and distrust of their students. They described feeling mandated to be too kind in ways that were unfair and marginalising of themselves and their students. These participants described how sacrificing their professional beliefs and agency was the cost of kindness. Participants disagreed in their beliefs about the rights and roles of lecturers, students, and the university. As such they defined and enacted kindness very differently. Those positioned at the kindness ends of our continuums appeared less stressed and anxious and more confident about their teaching and relationships with their students. As such the adoption of a Pedagogy of Kindness could benefit the university and the people teaching and learning in it.