1.1 Compassion as a pedagogy

Paul Warwick introduced the idea of using pedagogies of compassion to learn sustainable development competencies in his 2016 article. The pedagogies he describes aim to engage learners in primary and secondary schools and in higher education institutions (HEIs) in their own sustainability projects based on civic or community compassion. He invited learners to lead their own locally-based projects and studied their learning through the process of exercising their sense of agency and acting collaboratively. Each project was linked to sustainable development agendas and to the formal curriculum. The design of the projects exemplifies participatory models of how learners can actively shape their own learning which will be discussed in the next unit. In this research Warwick (2016) sees three main types of space where learning occurs:
- Compassionate conversations – teachers and students enter into dialogic conversations about the sustainability issues which matter most to them and that they feel compassion towards. Within this space learners are joint authors or co-researchers, making decisions collectively with leaders.
- Compassionate enquiry – learners are supported to deepen their understanding of their chosen sustainability issues. Learners act as researchers and are encouraged to seek out different perspectives and to act as change agents in their communities.
- Compassionate action – learners participate as knowledge creators and learn through collaboratively leading their own sustainability action projects. Learning is encouraged through trial and improvement, and taking risks and being innovative, as learners discover new ways they can collectively change their world through action within their community.
These relational dimensions bring an acknowledgement of our interconnectivity and interdependence across species, place and time to the space where people learn and engage learners with an extended notion of compassion expressed in concern for the common good.
Explore
Read Paul Warwick’s full 2016 paper:
‘Education for Sustainable Development: a movement towards pedagogies of civic compassion [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ’, FORUM, 58(3), pp. 407–414.
Activity 2.1 Learning through compassionate pedagogies
Reflect on the three learning spaces as set out by Paul Warwick.
2a. When you’ve thought about these three spaces, pick one and write a post of around 200 words under the Activity 2.1 forum discussion, where you outline your ideas for introducing your chosen space for learning into a context you know well.
You may choose to let your imagination fly and be innovative and creative, or keep your feet on the ground and design a way that would work with some adaptations to your current ways of working in your context.
2b. After posting read what others have posted and comment on the good ideas you read there.
1 Why compassion?