For a Pedagogy of Care

Abstract

Today, philosophy as well as other sciences identifies care as a primary concept to reflect upon, and if we contemplate our own experience, the ontological and existential primacy of caring becomes apparent. Starting from these premises, it is fundamental to reinterpret education from the perspective of the concept of care. To contribute to the development of this pedagogical debate, the aim of this paper is to identify the ways of behaving which qualify the competence of an educator as capable of providing care. This is a central pedagogical question; indeed, since the practice of care occurs in relationships where the educator is the subject responsible for ensuring that the relationship is permeated by care. As such, a core task of pedagogical reflection is identifying the relational postures which shape good care.