Perceived Effects of Academics’ Care on Learning, Development and Well-being

Learning

Although opinions were divided as to the importance of academic results, the informants perceived that academics’ care exerted positive effects on their learning. This has implied the pedagogical significance of academics’ care for students’ study.

It was not unusual for Amelia to obtain good academic results, as she was an intelligent and diligent student. When asked about the perceived effects of academics’ care on her learning, Amelia expressed that she did not figure out why, but did obtain good academic results due to academics’ care. Amelia reminisced about the experience, “My subject grades

show …… when I perceive that the academics are caring and leave me a more positive impression, I get As in those subjects.”

Joey emphasized the following, “For academics’ care, I think the most

important role is to give you the motivation to achieve even more.”

Academics’ care was perceived to exert positive effects on students’ study. This began with the classroom atmosphere, which appealed to the students and engaged them in learning. They saw academics’ care and the way it helped them focus in class as a

show appreciation for and gratitude towards the academics who were driven by their passion and taught from the heart. As such, they felt obliged to pay attention to the caring academics’ lectures. Furthermore, academics’ care created a caring atmosphere that contributed to rallying the students’ attention and focus in class. Their attention not only included attentively listening to the academics’ lecturing, but also extended to their initiative in engaging in activities and interactions and answering questions during the lectures.

Sophie expressed the following, “From what I have observed, one faculty

member can really remember the students and call almost every student by his/her name. I think he/she has focused on me. He/she does not just read out from the lecture notes or forget about me after class. As such, (I feel that) I have an effect on the academic’s heart. This makes me pay even more attention to his/her class and pay even more attention to him/her.”

Isabella expressed her upbeat spirit in anticipating the caring academic’s forthcoming lectures, “The academic is very caring, and we have

interactions in class. This makes the overall class atmosphere very good and makes us look forward to next week’s lecture. The academic has left us with a very good impression. The two to three hours of interactions (in the lectures) make me feel good.”

Isabella indicated the following, “When we attend class and feel that the

professors are very caring and very genuine, our degree of attentiveness increases. For examples, when the professor asks questions, we take the initiative to answer (the questions) …… Perhaps (the students’ responses) reflect whether the professor genuinely cares (about the students) or not. This has in turn reflected our respect for the professor.”

In addition, academics’ care was perceived to exert positive effects on stimulating students’ interest in learning and knowledge exploration. The academics’ caring attitudes and behaviour made the students feel more comfortable with asking questions about the subjects, enquiring about relevant prospective career development and so forth. As such, the academics’ “Pedagogical Care” increased the informants’ interest in the subject, and

hence learning more about the relevant subject matter, and even encouraged them to contemplate developing careers in their respective fields. This could be attributed to the contributions of academics’ care to cultivating caring, closer and trusted teacher-student relationships and a caring learning context for enthusing, engaging and facilitating students to learn.

Sophie expressed the following, “I feel that the distance (between the

academic and the student) is shortened. I won’t feel so afraid of the academic. I will dare to ask him/her questions.”

Isabella shared the following, “If the academics treat me with more care

during the learning process, I will become more interested in the subjects and will take the initiative to explore the academic problems. When we do projects and feel that the professor is caring, we become bolder and take the initiative to approach him/her to ask, ‘We have come up with an innovative idea. What do you think? Is it appropriate for our project?’ In other words, (academics’ care) will increase our interest and initiative, and the relationships with the professors will be better.”

James reminisced about an exemplary case of academics’ care related to organizing extra voluntary tutorial classes, “The academic was very nice.

He/she did something extra beyond his/her job description. He/she was willing to spend his/her personal time on helping the students. The extra tutorial classes were voluntary. I felt, and every student felt, very surprised. I saw a lot of students become interested in the subject because of this, because of those extra classes. The academic really spent his/her personal time on genuinely helping the students from the heart. He/she truly wanted the students to fully understand the knowledge.” Although James

did not participate in those extra classes, he did show much appreciation for the academics doing something extra beyond their job descriptions and genuinely from the heart.

Academics’ care was thus perceived to shorten the distance between the academics and students and help students overcome feelings of alienation. The students’ fear of asking questions could be attributed to the Chinese cultural influences; the students in general

were relatively passive in voicing opinions or asking questions. Despite this, some of the informants were dampened by their undesirable experiences with the faculty’s non- welcoming and insincere attitude, either not responding to their questions very well or answering them in a sloppy way. In contrast, academics’ care was able to engender feelings of being well cared for in the students. This contributed to cultivating caring, closer and trusted teacher-student relationships and a caring atmosphere to put the students at ease. It facilitated them to ask more questions and take more initiative in learning. It also encouraged them to engage in intellectual debates with the academics. This exerted positive effects on the development of students’ critical thinking, which was considered as important in university study.

James emphasized the values of higher education as follows, “It’s no longer

spoon-feeding or cramming in university, unlike in primary or secondary school. You no longer expect the teachers to tell you what is correct and accept it without doubt. In university, there are many approaches to doing a project or an assignment. You no longer just check it according to the marking scheme. This is critical thinking, broadening the minds.” James

went on to stress the important role of academics’ care in developing critical thinking and made reference to the mind-stimulating intellectual debates with caring academics, “(The contributions of academics’ care are)

really its insight, its facilitation of the cognitive aspect and its integration of knowledge into the minds. A conversation will make your eyes open, stimulate your thoughts.”

James’ perceptive and insightful remarks were telling. They stressed the pivotal role of academics’ care in synthesizing the affective and cognitive of learning and as such facilitating cognitive development, which included integrating knowledge, understanding new concepts and gaining insights into one’s thoughts. This substantiated the crucial role of academics’ care and its positive effects on the development of students’ critical thinking, which was considered important in higher education.

Academics’ care also exerted positive effects on students’ study motivation, especially in times of difficulty. It was seen as a source of motivation to inspire and drive the students to be more committed to and perseverant in studying when facing frustrations. The essential quality of recognition in academics’ care exerted profound effects on motivating and encouraging the students to study diligently and not give up in the face of challenges. The informants thus used good academic results as concrete means to reciprocate the academics’ care and efforts in teaching and never giving up on them. As such, their determination to show reciprocity to the academics by achieving a high GPA served as a strong motivator for them to study hard.

Amelia explained in an upbeat and vigorous tone how academics’ care acted as an effective motivational drive, “When I encounter a very caring

academic who teaches me a subject, and when the academic is being very nice to me, I think that I have to get an A. The feeling is, I want to use my academic results to reciprocate and express gratitude to the academic and show him/her that I fully understand what he/she has taught me. I will show it to (the caring academic).”

Sophie expressed the following, “When the academic cares about you very

much, the attitudes are totally different. I am no longer studying for myself. I don’t’ want to let the academic feel disappointed. I feel that the academic has expectations of me and has a passion (to teach). I don’t want to waste the academic’s heart (heartfelt efforts). I will give full efforts to studying, learning everything the academic has taught and ask the academic questions to make sure that I understand (the subject matter) and learn even more in order to do better. I do these things to avoid disappointing the academic. I think these are the positive effects of academics’ care.”

Mandy recalled an experience of academics’ care, “The academic took the

initiative to call our project team in after office hours and asked, ‘How’s your project?’ I felt very surprised. It’s really hard to find an academic to take care of work after office hours. Just a few simple questions, ‘How’s your progress?’ ‘Do you need help?’ ‘Is there anything that you don’t understand?’ He/she did not literally complete the project for us, but did give us lot of encouragement. (This made me) feel really good …… When

we are overwhelmed with the torment of doing project assignments, there are some who come and say, ‘Pull it through!’ I feel so happy.”

Mandy also stressed the importance of academics’ care in helping her positively cope with difficulties and motivating her to study, “I look for

academics’ care, because this is one of my study motivations …… When I encounter difficulties in studying, or when I feel unhappy during my studies, or because of poor examination results, there is someone (the caring academic) who helps you, motivates you and supports you. Then, you won’t fall so hard and hurt so badly.”

Academics’ care thus made a difference in the students’ attitudes towards their studies. The informants experienced academics’ care as a result of the academics’ expression of genuine concerns for their studies and feelings of happiness for their achievements. As such, the students felt touched, inspired and motivated to study more diligently and achieve higher goals. They did not want to waste the academics’ “heart” and efforts. They saw that studying and getting good academic results were no longer worthwhile for their own sake, but concrete means to reciprocate and return favours to the academics. They were considered solid proof that the students had learned and mastered all of the knowledge taught by the academics. Hence, the academics’ heartfelt efforts were not wasted. The students showed their deep gratitude towards the academics to avoid disappointing them. In sum, the contributions of academics’ care to cultivating caring, closer and trusted teacher-student relationships and creating a caring and congenial learning context exerted positive effects on students’ attitudes, commitment and motivation to study.

Development

Learning about disciplinary knowledge was only one facet of the students’ development. Some informants candidly indicated the perceived effects and meanings of academics’

remark shallow. They thought university was not just a place for learning textbook knowledge, but more importantly a place for developing their critical thinking, broadening their views and achieving prospective careers and holistic development.

James elaborated on the important role of academics’ care in facilitating students’ exploration of future prospects, “It’s talking about my long-term

career prospect, what my life direction should be. Even if you get a 4.0 GPA, it doesn’t mean that you know what you want to do in the future, or whether you can develop a career in your area of interest. These are something beyond the subject knowledge. But, to me, these are even much more important.”

Mia shared an exemplary case of academics’ care in which the academic was caring and passionate about teaching the subject and sharing many examples related to the subject matter; as such, the academics’ care stimulated her interest in developing her career in that particular area, “From having zero knowledge to having an interest in developing my career

in that particular area, (the effects of academics’ care) extended beyond the knowledge realm to my prospective development.”

Despite the disagreement, the perceived effects and meanings of academics’ care on improving students’ academic results were telling in relation to the students’ prospective development. Obtaining a high GPA was seen as an important means of increasing one’s probability of getting a good job. Thus, obtaining good results, developing critical thinking and so forth had far-reaching implications for the students’ prospects. In particular, these effects were manifested in the contributions of academics’ care to role modelling.

Role modelling has been recognized as important in grooming students’ holistic development. For example, they modelled the academics’ people skills in terms of how to tactically handle thorny people issues and were expected to be applicable to the students’ prospective workplaces. These skills were seen as important for students in surviving and prospering in their prospective careers. Experiencing academics’ care

became the catalyst for them to model their behaviour on the caring academics, and inspired them to become the kinds of persons they wanted to be in the future.

Eva stated the following, “Academics’ care is not just purely for academic

pursuit. It can be of great help to students. The caring academics’ inspiration, thoughts and attitudes will inspire the students in terms of what to do and how we see the teachers. My teachers are probably the kinds of people that I want to become in the future.”

Olivia thoughtfully explained the importance of role models as follows, “Every academic has something worth (students’) learning. This will make

me trust him/her. First, there are some things that (I) will appreciate about him/her. I will then trust him/her, learn from him/her and then imitate him/her …… Apart from parents, teachers are the second type of senior people I trust among the senior. We have a higher degree of trust in teachers. No matter whether it is our study or personal growth, teachers play a very important role, that of role models. It’s good to model ourselves on teachers. It’s been like this since we were young. After entering university, I also came to see the academics as role models. We imitate them subconsciously and follow their (behaviour). (We think that) they are probably right. Why not listen to their advice?”

Joey stated the following, “If an academic is very phoney, I don’t think I can

learn from and follow this person. I can’t trust this person. The academics are very important. They take on the role of role model.”

Having experienced academics’ care, the students gradually built up trust in the academics and adopted their caring behavior by caring about others. Academics’ care contributed to immersing them in the experiences of being cared for and cultivating a caring and trusted teacher-student relationship. This enabled them to get to know the academics and gradually appreciate their qualities and behaviour. These were considered as prerequisites for them to see the academics as role models. The dialectical reinforcement of academics’ care and trust also served as catalysts for the students to model themselves on the caring academics. They were unaware of “imitating” the

academics’ caring acts, but later found out that they were in fact following the caring academics’ behaviour. This has implied the far-reaching effects of academics’ care on their holistic development into caring people who cared for others and engaged in a virtuous cycle of care. This was reflected in the informants’ admission that they were willing to help the academics in the future as a way of showing them gratitude and reciprocal care. This might have also been a concrete manifestation of the students’ modelling themselves on the academics’ caring qualities and behaviour. Role modelling was not a process of becoming a passive, uni-directional recipient of knowledge from the academics, but an active learner-initiated development process. Thus, academics’ care helped the students transition from teacher-initiated learning to learner-initiated role modelling. In sum, academics’ care contributed to influencing students’ holistic development through role modelling.

Well-being

Academics’ care was perceived as exerting positive effects on addressing students’ emotions and hence promoting their well-being. This was related to the informants’ observation that they would study happily when they felt cared for. Amelia experienced feelings of elation when she was taught by a caring academic and obtained very good results.

Amelia stressed the importance of having a caring academic to an enjoyable study experience. Amelia emphasized this point by asking a rhetorical question in an excited and high-pitched tone, “Studying happily

is of course important. Why isn’t it important? Why isn’t studying happily important?”

Amelia, who was a brilliant student, addressed the rhetorical question by making a wise and unpretentious remark, “In your pursuit of a 4.0 (GPA),

get the 4.0. To me, happiness is a very important thing. Studying should be a happy process. Like my mother says, ‘If one studies too hard, one may commit suicide.’ Because if you can’t get what you want, it will be heart- rending! What’s the point of being so stressed and so worried?”

Likewise, Amelia explicated in an upbeat and vigorous tone how academics’ care acted as an effective motivational drive, “When I encounter a very

caring academic who teaches me a subject, and when the academic is being so nice to me, I think that I have to get an A. The feeling is, I want to use my academic results to reciprocate and show my gratitude to the