Abstract:

In this introduction to the special issue on “A pedagogy of care”, we, the special issue editors, share our own critical approaches to humanizing teaching with technology in the past few years – going back to before the pandemic – that led to the special issue. As the world “pivoted online”, and technology was taken for granted as essential in education, we, along with critical scholars, pushed back against dominant assertions about how central technology would be in teaching and learning contexts. Identifying the need to address care in a time when neoliberalism has normalized the involvement of big tech in education, reflecting on the pandemic, this issue includes seven articles (including this introduction) covering a range of national and international perspectives on care, including critiques of digital technology; recognition of emotional labor; connecting/curating resources for teachers; the importance of cultivating a sense of purpose; moving past binary thinking; and linking care and equity. Across all seven articles, we focus on the act of caring–imagining education as a process of love, community, and attention.

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