What is unfeigned love?
Where exactly are we heading?
It is becoming clear that unfeigned love is the key to relationships of teacherly authority and can be provided under Constructive Mutualism but not Behaviourism.
Unfeigned love is long-suffering, is kind, is not envious, is not boastful, has no agenda, is not easily provoked, is not malicious, does not rejoice in wrongdoing but in truth, bears all things, accepts things as they are, hopes eternally, endures all trials.
Those possessed of unfeigned love look for and find the needs of others and use their resources to enhance them. When they see the life of someone they love being enhanced, they rejoice as if it were their own life being enhanced. Students who experience this will enter a teacherly authority relationship with their teacher – they want this experience to continue, it is highly valuable for them.
When we see someone get something that we would want for ourselves and do not covet it but truly feel that person's joy as if it were our own, the same as if we had actually received the gift, then we can count that person as one for whom we have unfeigned love. This is a good test for whether we have unfeigned love towards a child or a colleague.
It is my observation that it is easier to offer unfeigned love to students (although it is still rare) than it is to colleagues. In fact, I have had this conversation a number of times with teachers who are providing unfeigned love to children but are unable to do the same with their adult colleagues.
Adults need psychological safety just as much as anyone else.
John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the concept and practice of teacherly authority. Earlier blogs can be found here.
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