Kindness in pedagogical practice and academic life

The paper presents the argument that kindness in teaching is both commonplace yet unremarked and that, moreover, it is subversive of neo‐liberal values. In arguing for the value of attending to kindness, we reject the dichotomy between emotion and reason and the associated gendered binaries. We distinguish kindness from ‘due care’ and acts that are required of professionals, and instead locate it philosophically in personal values and with a concern for lay normativity. We illustrate our claims for the pervasiveness of kindness through a re‐reading of student data from an earlier study. These data are used to elaborate the concept. We conclude by suggesting that what is subversive in thinking about higher education practice through the lens of kindness is that it cannot be regulated or prescribed.