In this awesome episode, Professor of Compassion-Focused Pedagogy, Theo Gilbert focuses on supporting the sector's move towards teaching, learning and credit-bearing assessment of cognitive compassion as in effective team meeting/discussion management. Examples at University of Hertfordshire are seen in Law, Engineering, Computer Science, History and Business. This is done via filmed, research-driven, student team/groupwork discussions where criticality is key. 

 But what do the verbal and non-verbal micro skills of cognitive (not 'emotion-based') compassionate communications in student team/group work actually mean and how do they motivate and equip students to build the psychological safety and space for each other to think at their best - resourcefully and innovatively. Here is what this authentic ('research + criticality + effective group management') assessment addresses as seen in studies so far: students' inappropriate use of AI; employers' stated needs for good graduate team and communication skills; indefensible awarding gaps; unnecessarily heavy marking workloads on staff; and student-reported enhancements to engagement and interculturalisation with 'others' in studies so far across disciplines and compared to controls.

 Universities across the sector are accessing and deploying new evidence - from the neurosciences, anthropology, psychology - on the nature of cognitive compassion not just into their classrooms but into their five-year strategic plans too. In this episode, Theo shows in very practical terms, how any teacher can legitimise their students' appetites to help dismantle the destructive types of competitive individualism on which current HE is too much based, and so help us stem the waste of staff and student belonging and achievement potentials. A truly fabulous episode!

Based at University of Hertfordshire's Centre for Learning, Access and Student Success, and Business School.  He is creator of the Compassion in HE Network with its website of free, practical resources for any compassion-curious educator:  

https://compassioninhe.wordpress.com/.  The network is of staff from, so far, 90 universities across 12 countries to help each other get the science of cognitive compassion onto the curricula, in almost any discipline that assesses team/group work.  He is very keen to support and link staff with others in their disciplines and/or beyond, and has supported effective teamwork at, e.g., the National Crime Agency, the Home Office, The Food Standard’s agency. He’s the 2018 Advance HE's/Times Higher's Most Innovative Teacher of the Year and a keynote speaker at the Annual National Teaching Fellow/CATE Symposium (2020).    He has a strong presence on You Tube and is published in a number of journals and book chapters. Contact: [email protected] for help or support.