Creative knowledge in the educational thinking of María Zambrano

Abstract

A convergence between education and philosophy is a key feature in María Zambrano's works. This article reiterates her strong criticisms of the field of education for its lack of creative purpose. Despite a patent need for a logos that encourages learners to interpret their senses and feelings, this field continues to downplay the methodologies and understanding contributed by a century plus of active learning, seeking to shape learners to fit the current productive, economic and technological social order. Furthermore, this is a field that condemns beings not to «be» (in an absolute sense), with a rationale that sweeps feeling aside, consigning beings to a reality open to the dangers of a formalist approach. In turn, this article propounds the importance of embodying thinking through expression. This is something considered in Zambrano's philosophy, distinguishing between the word and the concept, and underlining both the danger of static concepts being forged and the significance of transforming realities, addressing change through creative language and therefore highlighting the value of an education that embodies language. To conclude, the articles proposes a poetic pedagogy based on creative language, which, through Zambrano's aura, can be seen as a centre for truth and a cornerstone of literature. It is thus a pedagogy that enables learners to make sense of and communicate with life through feeling.