growing group care 🌱
This is what group work often looks like.
✅ group chat called group 1, 2, or 3
✅ meet once
⬜ book a room
✅ assign tasks
⬜ XYZ
⬜ marking criteria
We think care is missing.
❗NEW NOTIFICATION
Group work taking place in academic, physical-to-digital spaces can lead to challenging group dynamics. When communication is struggling, we may resort to just "doing it for the grade".
group 2
hey do you guys wanna meet at the cafe?
(Sometimes conventional study spaces can feel restrictive. Offering warm & open spaces outside of this can foster comfortability & productivity)
let's just do a zoom meeting - it's easier!
(Digital environments can also provide an alternative, comfortable, and productive way of working. However, this doesn't work for everyone, and care may be more difficult to express over 40 minute video calls.)
Wednesday 11:17
sorry I won't be able to join as I'm on holiday
(Other commitments could impact when the group can meet. This can lead to unequal contribution. Some people may have to take up more responsibilities and care for others in the group, potentially at the expense of their own boundaries. When this extra work is overlooked, this can cause tension within the group.)
When we meet later?
(Group members will likely have different styles of communication, and different ways of speaking English. For some people, this forms an extra barrier to participation. They worry that they won't be understood, or that they'll be judged for the way they speak.)
How's 2pm? Btw - how was everyone's weekend?
(Ensuring that everyone is included and is seen can feel taxing, and may not always be reciprocated. Individuals extending this care to others may now appreciate receiving more care themselves.)
what is care?
Care has many faces;
care means different things to different people, in different situations
Care can be a disposition.
"Good care is felt in those moments when people feel safe, heard, and valued-when they are supported not just to survive, but to live well and live confidently as themselves."
Care can be an action.
Stepping up to do tasks others aren't as comfortable with
bringing/sharing snacks
ensuring a welcome environment for all
Raising issues and tensions not ignoring them.
Checking in (how are you feeling)
care is an ONGOING and CONTINUOUS PROCESS
care in groups
the Presence of Care
In group work, care for some might be reflected in the amount of quantifiable work they contribute to the project, rather than the act of enacting care during the development of the project itself, including towards the people involved.
Care in groups goes beyond what is measured and evaluated by assessment criteria, and is something the group learns to do together, towards each other and beyond the group.
good group work is a PROCESS
rather than product-making
Inviting contribution
rather than waiting for people to jump in.
Keeping work within time available
- people have different commitments.
Accommodating differences in strengths, skills,
motivation, expectations, and communication style.
Making space for disagreement,
holding emotional and intellectual tension
instead of immediately trying to resolve tension.
Reflecting on one's positionality.
Receiving and incorporating each other's feedback.
Being aware of assuming a 'common language':
are the things we take for granted actually
things everyone is familiar with?
how do we address language and cultural barriers?
troubles with care
In enacting care, what is still wrong?
1. Caring can have negative effects too. It risks reproducing inequalities.
- Some social groups are already disproportionately burdened by care responsibilities. If these groups are more responsive to a zine about increasing care, then we risk exacerbating this dynamic!
For example, one of our group described her previous group-work experience as one of "mothering".
If female readers of this zine enact our message of promoting care more than male readers, then we have a problem on our hands.
SO..care must be COLLECTIVE, RECIPROCAL, and MINDFUL of the positionalities of yourself and others.
Different people have different levels of needing care, social responsibility for enacting care, and ability to provide it to others.
2. The institutional structures which inhibit care remain intact.
- The university institution fails to effectively value the PROCESS of group work, only the PRODUCT. So, of course we worry about grades, time efficiency, and not embarrassing ourselves in a presentation!
- We must care to make up for this shortcoming, while acknowledging that care is necessary because of it. However, even if we care, the institution (currently) does not.
Caring is difficult. A part-solution. Frustrating. Imperfect. Necessary. Collective.
Reproducing inequalities and gendered terms - taking consideration of this is an act of care
In promoting care how can we avoid (re-)producing inequalities?
what could group care look like?
We see care as an ongoing process. In group work it takes many shapes and layers. Care is never still; it shifts, grows, and shows up in unexpected ways.
Care begins with openness. It means staying attentive and adaptable, recognising that people bring different backgrounds, circumstances, strengths, and struggles. To care is to notice these differences, make space for them, and move with them rather than against them.
Care is not only about fixing or helping, but also about accommodating - making room for difference once we see that no two people share the same experiences. It means noticing the small things that help everyone take part: adjusting the pace, finding workable times, or offering different ways to contribute. Needs may shift, and care shifts with them. To accommodate is to show that every person matters - not just for what they do, but for who they are in the group.
Care also requires empathy and respect, especially when tensions rise or deadlines are near. Stress and disagreements are part of group work, but care means pausing before reacting listening with patience, and recognising the pressures each person carries. Respect doesn't erase conflict, but it makes room for difference without creating division. Deadlines pass, but how we treat one another lasts.
Finally, care extends beyond the task itself. It can last through a check-in after a hard week, new friendships that form, or the trust that carries into future collaborations. These gestures remind us that what we build together can outlive any deadline, creating threads of support and recognition that continue well beyond the work.
over to you!
Reflect on this zine and consider the following scenarios before beginning group work.
Consider what group care looks like to you. How would you like to be cared for in the group and how could you care for others?
Think about an ideal space to work. What does this look like and how does it support group work? Can you implement this into yours?
You have a group project coming up and there has been unequal contribution. This is causing tension and impacting the quality of the project. Which steps can you take to address this with empathy and care?
further resources
Collective, T. C., Chatzidakis, A., Hakim, J., Littler, J., Rottenberg, C., & Segal, L. (2020). The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence: The Politics of Compassion. London ; New York: Verso Book.
Bellacasa, M. P. de la. (2017). Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a Feminist Life. Durham: Duke University Press Books.
hooks, bell. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.
Freire, P. (2017). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York London New Delhi Sydney: Penguin Classics.
growing group care
Group work can be challenging. How can it be organised to support meaningful connection and learning processes?
This zine is part of a project on growing group care. It aims to support caring and inclusive group learning in universities and beyond. It is meant for those just starting group projects.
It is inspired by research on care and critical pedagogies, as well as creative and participatory research approaches.
The zine was developed by Abi Abosejo, Adja Seck, Cong Fu, Ellie Jennings, Kesara Ariyapongpairoj and Louis Saha. The process of making a zine together served as a way to surface and unfold the possibilities and tensions of group work. It was group work on group work.
The project was organised by Jonathan W. Y. Gray, Liliana Bounegru and Pippa Sterk, and supported by King's Academy.