On the fifth day of the Women Economic Forum, where women from different spheres came to discuss issues of empowerment and gender parity, Sue Curr, an empowerment coach and author from the UK, conducted a session on ‘empowering teaching and learning through love pedagogy at a school setting’, which stressed on the importance of incorporating compassion in the pedagogy of educational institutions to enhance the learning and teaching experience.
“In my opinion, the greatest don’t teach you how, they show you how,” began Curr, adding, “In the UK, we tailor our curriculum to the needs of the students, rather than needs of the educational institution. “She then recited an anecdote about Thomas Edison and how his mother’s compassion actually enabled him to be successful despite repeated failures. “Every child is born with the ability to learn, but not every child will learn in the same way,” Curr continued focusing on differential learning abilities of children. Criticizing the dynamics of the current and historical school systems, she said that “historically, children are known to fail if they don’t achieve a certain grade”.
Commenting on the woes of the modern child, Curr continued that “children today have so many pressures in their life — internet, the latest designer clothing, their peers and what they think of them. They need a firm solid foundation of unconditional love. They need a certain conditional knowledge that they are loved by their families and respected by their educators to enable them to learn in a way that is applicable to them”.
With regard to the missing piece in current pedagogy, she said, “One strand of education which is lacking in the western world is the application of mindfulness.”
“If our students worldwide were taught the ability to be mindful, to live in the present moment and experience it fully, combined with the act of meditation, that would be the final puzzle to ensure that our students have the correct arsenal to do a better good, and further empower those who come into their future,” she added.
On being questioned by BW Businessworld about what ‘love pedagogy’ actually entails, Curr said, “Love pedagogy for me entails that children learn better in an educational setting, when their educators understand that learning a fact isn’t always just about education. Emotional intelligence is vital, because if the child’s emotional quotient is good, they will absorb facts better. Gone are the days where children are made to just recite facts, they are applied in a multi-centric fashion. Children learn in different manners, like visual or auditory, and when all techniques are applied with compassion, children learn better.”
