Co-Creating Caring Communities in Schools: Reflections on Remedy and Repair From a Doctoral Research Project

• In Event: School Culture and Climate in International Settings

Abstract

This paper analyses a collaborative research project about care that took place in an English public school in 2023-4, as part of the author’s doctoral fieldwork. Drawing upon a range of qualitative data from the project, this paper considers how collaborative research and dialogue about care in schools might support remedy, and spotlight where repair is needed most. Care ethics, theory, and educational scholarship provide diverse stimulants for expanding and refocusing the educational imagination around healing and renewal. Building upon this interdisciplinary scholarship, this paper invites reflections upon certain promises and challenges of co-creating caring communities in English schools. Preliminary findings from the co-led collaborative focus groups illustrate intricate relationships between care and agency, inclusivity, diversity and connectedness in schools.

Author

• Julia Dobson, University College London - IOE