Edinburgh Napier University

  The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in higher education students experiencing mental health challenges. This has resulted in a call for universities to exercise a duty of care in supporting students not only to do well academically but to support their mental well-being. One opportunity to action this is for universities is to employ acts of kindness as part of creating a more compassionate learning environment. Using a case study approach this research set out to collect and discuss examples from across the UK where higher education institutions have embedded kindness within their curricula. From the eleven case studies, key themes included the need to provide opportunities for students to positively connect with each other, their tutors, and the university as well as providing opportunities for self-reflection during their studies. These case studies provide practical examples of the way that kindness can be integrated into higher education curricula.