Supporting Student Mental Wellbeing in Enabling Education: Practices, Pedagogies and a Philosophy of Care

High rates of mental ill-health amongst students have been a catalyst in recent years for universities to reconsider their attitudes and approaches to supporting student mental wellbeing. At the coalface in Australian university enabling programs (also known as access courses and alternative pathways), educators teach and support diverse student cohorts, including students with mental health difficulties. Acknowledging this additional challenge for students transitioning to university, educators in some programs have implemented proactive initiatives in response to their students’ needs. Using enabling education in Australia as a case study of supportive learning environments with intentional curriculum, structures and strategies to support student mental wellbeing, this book chapter explores the practices, pedagogies and philosophies common to such programs. It describes the strategies evident in enabling education and proposes that the initiatives display interweaving elements of enabling pedagogy; third generation transition pedagogy; and pedagogies of care. Furthermore, it contends that the practices and pedagogies are underpinned by a philosophy of care, which resists the type of dualistic thinking present in higher education that under-values caring work.