A Pedagogy of Love

Finding incongruity amidst meaning: Advocating purpose, social justice, and educational values in UK higher education on uneven ground

Against the backdrop of global socio-political turbulence - including the inauguration of Donald Trump, the rise of far-right ideologies, and deepening humanitarian and economic crises - we reaffirm our commitment to social justice and an ethics of care within educational spaces and broader society. According to a Guardian report from February 2025, 25% of UK universities are projected to make further budget and staff cuts, with the Office for Students (OfS) estimating that up to 72% of universities could face financial instability by the 2025-26 academic year (Guardian, 2025). After years of marketisation, austerity, and ideological assaults from the right, higher education (HE) in the UK stands on shifting sands.

While much has been written about this crisis, we frame this context as an opportunity to advocate for universal education and critically examine the evolving purposes of education. How do we continue to uphold meaningful educational values when the very ground beneath us is unstable? How do we find coherence amid competing demands? And how do we tap into our ‘inner superheroes’ - our collective power to resist, reimagine, and rebuild?

Finding meaning in social justice

Social justice in education is often treated as a marketable soundbite or bureaucratic checkbox, but we argue it must be the foundation of educational practice and relationships. Universities, colleges, and schools are not neutral spaces situated in a vacuum; they are critical sites for fostering a more equitable society, driven by liberation and transformation.

Education is always shaped by social inequities, often reproducing existing power structures, status hierarchies, and economic barriers (Bourdieu, 1984). At a time when HE institutions are forced to navigate financial and ideological instability, social justice cannot be relegated to the periphery - it must be a central guiding principle that informs our responses to crisis and change.

Critical pedagogies as resistance

In an era where market-driven models dominate HE, critical pedagogies offer a means of disruption. We engage with anti-discriminatory theoretical and pedagogical perspectives aimed at dismantling oppression based on race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, and other intersecting identities. Rather than passively accepting the commodification of education, we advocate for pedagogical practices that empower students and challenge systemic inequities.

As institutions prioritise financial survival over educational purpose, it becomes essential to resist the silent complicity that allows injustice to persist. Critical pedagogy provides the tools to interrogate power structures, fostering spaces of resistance and empowerment within and beyond the classroom. 

Love as a radical and transformative force in education

In precarious times, advocating for love in education may seem incongruous, yet it is precisely in moments of instability that love becomes a radical and necessary force. To teach, to lead, and to nurture are not neutral acts; they are deeply political. Love of humanity - understood as a collective, transformative force - encompasses social justice, critical pedagogies, and the democratisation of education.

Love disrupts the transactional logic of capitalism, which reduces education to an economic instrument, and challenges the hierarchies that dehumanise and commodify relationships. Centring love in education requires rejecting the notion that learning is merely about knowledge accumulation or workforce optimisation. Instead, it demands a focus on holistic development within a collective, grounded in recognition, care, and liberation.

Reimagining leadership on shaky ground

Leadership in higher education must operate beyond hierarchical control and efficiency-driven models. True leadership is not about managing tasks but about nurturing potential and fostering growth through care, community, and collaboration over control and competition. Leadership in times of crisis requires an openness to unlearning and reimagining, rather than simply reinforcing existing structures.

Emotional intelligence is not just a leadership skill; it is an ethical stance. In educational settings, this means fostering environments where students and colleagues feel safe to bring their full selves - where they are not reduced to productivity metrics but honoured as whole, complex beings. Education should encompass not just intellectual development but also emotional, social, and ethical growth.

Love as a political act and a critique of capitalism

To teach, to lead, and to care - when framed through love as social justice, critical pedagogy, and the democratisation of education—are radical acts. They challenge capitalist narratives of individualism, productivity, and scarcity. Instead, they create possibilities for solidarity, transformation, and collective liberation. Choosing love is choosing a different future - one where education is not an instrument of oppression but a practice of freedom (hooks, 1994).

This perspective integrates practical knowledge with a deeply felt connection to emotions and relationality. The theorisation of love within teaching and learning settings speaks to the affective dimensions of pedagogy, emphasising the fundamental role of relationships in mental health, well-being, and the overall educational experience.

Democratising education: Finding the inner superhero

As HE institutions navigate financial turmoil and ideological scrutiny, we must collectively ask: Who holds power in these spaces? How does oppressive power manifest within educational institutions? And how do individuals resist dominant power structures while also navigating compliance?

Finding incongruity amidst meaning means embracing the discomfort of uncertainty and using it as a catalyst for action. It means that instability itself can be a site of creative possibility. It is within this uncertainty that we find our ‘inner superheroes’ - our capacity to reimagine education, reclaim its purpose, and advocate for an equitable, justice-driven future.

References:

Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction: a social critique of the judgment of taste. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

hooks, b. (1994) Teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.

The Guardian (2025) ‘The Guardian view on campus cuts: academics pay a high price for Westminster’s mistakes’, The Guardian, 11 February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/11/the-guardian-view-on-campus-cuts-academics-pay-a-high-price-for-westminsters-mistakes (Accessed: 19 February 2025).