Moral education as pedagogy of alterity

Abstract

In this paper the author states that education could be better defined as reception and responsibility and that this ethical relationship between educator and pupil is the root or essential element of education. The author proposes a new paradigm, the pedagogy of alterity, inspired by Le´vinas, as a different model for educational praxis and research. Education as reception and responsibility facilitates the learning of values and a moral environment in the classroom and it is a fundamental support for the pupils in the current crisis of education. In this model, education is also political complaint and commitment. Being responsible for the other, taking responsibility for the other, means accepting the socio‐historical conditions of the pupil. Otherwise, we would not be referring to human beings of flesh and blood, but to spiritual entities.

Notes

Corresponding author. Facultad de Educacio´n, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Email: [email protected]