Practising vulnerability; presuming equality: towards a pedagogy of care

In this paper, I explore the concept of vulnerability as a cornerstone of caring and compassionate pedagogies in higher education. Drawing on recent feminist thought, I examine how relational pedagogies and ontologies of care can challenge the marketised conceptualisation of student−teacher relationships. I argue that practising vulnerability, when understood non-instrumentally, has the potential to foster more emancipatory classroom environments. I critically engage with the notion of vulnerability, positioning it as a practice of trust and an assumption of intellectual equality. I contend that vulnerability resists instrumentalisation and instead attends to students in their specificity. I reflect on my experiences of practising vulnerability in teaching, emphasising modest yet effective approaches that acknowledge intellectual limits and speak from situated standpoints.Whilst recognising the risks associated with vulnerable pedagogies, particularly for marginalised individuals and precarious staff, I maintain that some degree of vulnerability should be central to caring pedagogies. I argue that practising vulnerability can rebuild trust between students and teachers, even in challenging material conditions. Ultimately, I posit that practising vulnerability, though often a modest gesture, has the power to maintain liberatory spaces in universities. I conclude by asserting that this approach can keep alive ways of imagining teaching and learning as a celebration of situated, everyday practices of care, fostering emancipatory learning communities.