1. The case for care

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This is a proposal written in collaboration with Anna Schlimm, my course colleague.  

Introduction 

On our MA (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures) principles of trust, safety and care are central in our teaching and culture. 

This year however – for the first time – we have witnessed serious discriminatory behaviour between our students resulting in relationships breaking down and disciplinary action. 

Our proposal seeks to find renewed ways of being in an emotionally sustainable community with each other. We started by making a Theory of Change. 

Current situations 

  • Course principles remain in the abstract  
    Every year, we co-create our principles with students. Recent events suggest these are not unanimously understood or absorbed in daily conduct.  
  • No shared language for care 
    We are noticing the words of Care and Justice are used without a deep commitment to what they mean in daily interpersonal practice. 
  • Conflict left unresolved  
    We believe the culture of abusive language online partly stems from an avoidance of healthy conflict, and an inability to have difficult conversations. 
  • UAL policies unfamiliar  
    Many students do not know the Equality Act or Protected Characteristics. Plus they have not read the UAL Disciplinary code for students, which exists online as a bureaucratic policy document. 

Dreaming of change 

We wish to build a community founded on trust, care, phycological safety and communication. We recognise this needs to be based on intentional protocol rather than just intention. We believe there also needs to be an inbuilt cyclical evaluation of our collective culture and our values, to create safe and brave space for listening, learning and adaptation (Arao, B., Clemens, K. 2023). 
 

How might we get there? 

Our initial ideas include: 

  • A tool to support more active co-development of our Care Principles from the beginning. 
  • ‘Care labels’ (Heidorn, 2021, page 47), that include our personal care requirements and triggers, and also things we need to be held accountable for.  
  • A system of accountability involving a cyclical revisiting of these commitments and a mechanism for people to share feedback anonymously (Cain, S. 2012). 
  • We share the conviction that whatever we design needs to be cared for and beautiful! No bland policy documents here. It needs to be deeply human, caring and maybe even sparkle.  

Sources of inspiration for this work 

  • Arao, B., Clemens, K. (2023). ‘From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces’. The Art of Effective Facilitation. Stylus Publishing.  
     
  • Hakim, J. Littler, J. Rottenberg, C. Chatzidakis, A. (2020). The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence. Verso Books. 
     
  • Heidorn, N., Blackshaw, G., Kivland, S. (2021). ‘Care Labels: A Tool for Cultivating a Politics of Car’. CARE(LESS). Page 47. Ma Bibliothèque. 
     
  • hooks, b. (1999). All About Love: New Visions. HarperCollins  
     
  • hooks, b. (1994) Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. London: Routledge. 
     
  • Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t StopTalking. Crown Publishing Group/Random House, Inc.