Ethics of care and reflective practice in South African higher education

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unexpected window of opportunity in higher education. Five years on, we analysed a responsive online teaching innovation: a ‘Reflection and Support Group’ for students in Environmental Science at Rhodes University, South Africa. We employed a collective autoethnographic approach to explore the value of the intervention and elicit key lessons. Benefits included improved mental health, enhanced academic performance, and development of reflective capacities. Recommendations included the need for clearer reflection guidelines for students, training and support for facilitators, and addressing digital inequality. We conclude with a discussion of the enduring nature of the benefits and consider what this means for ethics of care and reflective practice in higher education teaching and learning. Our analysis reveals that care and reflection in higher education are moral, political and collective practices. Institutionalising such practices in hierarchical, neoliberal universities requires systemic transformation which pays attention to diversity, inequality and power

Autoethnography · Critical reflection · Ethics of care · Higher education · Politics · Reflective Practice · Digital Education and Society · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Reflective Practices in Education