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Pedagogical Love: An Evolutionary Force

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Postformal Education

Part of the book series: Critical Studies of Education ((CSOE,volume 3))

Abstract

In a world of high-stakes testing, league tables for primary schools as well as universities, funding cuts, teacher shortages, mass shootings in school campuses and rising rates of depression and suicide among students who miss out on university entrance, how do we decide what should be the core values in education? Because I believe it is the most important value that is largely missing from education today, I begin with pedagogical love. I discuss the philosophical background as to why love should be at centre stage in education. I follow this with an introduction to the contemporary educational approaches that support a caring pedagogy and some experiences and examples from my own and others’ practice, ending with some personal reflections on the theme.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    What Derrida has to say about love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suvpPTMbnAo

  2. 2.

    Richard J. Davidson (2010) The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fVvsR-CqM&feature=related.

  3. 3.

    An education conference in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 2015 was called “Transforming the Heart of Education”. Another Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Tallinn, Estonia, June 2015 included the theme: “Values in education and ethics of ESD – What’s love got to do with it?”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Jennifer M. Gidley PhD

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Gidley, J.M. (2016). Pedagogical Love: An Evolutionary Force. In: Postformal Education. Critical Studies of Education, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29069-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29069-0_8

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