Revolutionary love at work in an arctic school with conflicts

Abstract

This paper explores how “revolutionary love” may be a viable response in a teacher’s pedagogical practices. To do so, we present an in-depth case study of one teacher in a reindeer herding village in Finnish rural north. The paper asks what does revolutionary love mean in teaching practice and what distinguishes loving from non-loving teaching practices? What are the implications for the prospects of personal and community transformation? The findings from this study show the manifestations of transformative loving responses in teaching practice and the opportunities that are created for learning and growth. The study has important implications for educational change in small communities and makes a contribution to considering love-as-revolutionary praxis in teaching.

Keywords:

• love
• education
• transformation
• school

Notes

1. We prefer not to use the term “poverty” here, because the villagers would not say they are poor. They would say they experience occasional challenges in making ends meet. Poverty would define them, whereas “financial challenges” describe their circumstances.

2. For readability, the excerpts have been edited without changing the meaning.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Academy of Finland, research council for culture and society [grant number 267166].