Pedagogy of care: Compassion as self-transcendence—The Kohlberg memorial lecture of 2025

Compassion is a four-stage process of noticing, feeling, acting, and sense-making that is rooted in evolution and essential to human meaningfulness. The article proposes a pedagogy of care as an educational framework that cultivates compassion, self-compassion, and co-passion, grounded in moral responsibility and emotional connection. Barriers to compassion and its positive effects for individuals, groups, and societies are considered. Compassion is linked with self-transcendence, moving beyond self-interest toward universal ethical principles and shared responsibility.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article develops the concept of a pedagogy of care by exploring the multifaceted dimensions of compassion. Compassion is first situated both in its role for human meaningfulness and in its evolutionary roots. It is then examined as a four-stage process of noticing, feeling, acting and sense-making, and in relation to the broader concept of care. The discussion extends compassion to encompass self-compassion and co-passion. Both barriers to compassion and its documented positive effects for individuals, groups and societies are considered. Building on this, the article proposes pedagogy of care as a value-laden educational framework that seeks to cultivate compassion, self-compassion and co-passion, grounded in moral responsibility and emotional connection with others and with oneself. Finally, compassion is linked with self-transcendence, understood as moving beyond self-interest toward universal ethical principles and shared responsibility.