Veronica Mitchell Research Associate / Facilitator - University of the Western Cape / University of Cape Town |
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04.04.2022-28.04.2022
A relational ethical approach towards respectful maternity care for student training in obstetrics: An interdisciplinary response to the public health challenge of obstetric violence
To achieve our goals the following objectives are identified:
To study, discuss and write up how innovative alternative pedagogical practices can promote ethical caring through socially just behaviours in obstetrics.
To publish one article on our combined efforts collectively drawing on our past and current individual research projects and pedagogical practices.
To bring along our collected literature, study it together, and complement it with the latest information provided by experts from the WHO in Geneva.
The intention of this south-north project is to cross-pollinate ideas to experiment with alternative modes of transforming academia, including new forms of scholarship.
Our collaborative research will be firmly rooted in our expertise in care ethics and pedagogy, which we use to relook at student responsibility, response-ability, competence, being rendered capable, attentiveness and trust, by drawing from care ethics. Exchanging ideas and networking with others at the Brocher Foundation and WHO in Geneva will support and inspire our discussions and writing. We plan to bring new insights using our research data, e.g. of a present study into violence from a feminist and Foucauldian perspective. We aim to create a teaching video together which will be linked to our texts. In this video we will demonstrate how a relational approach to ethics as compared to an individualistic ethics, is able to break through repressive structures of thought.
Veronica Mitchell (PhD) is a Research Associate at the University of the Western Cape and a facilitator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her physiotherapy background and her experiences in human rights education led to her interest in exploring the medical curriculum and the force it has on students’ becoming. She promotes the production of Open Educational Resources (OER) as a sharing of knowledge for the public good. Her publications include a research blog, authored websites, and journal papers.