- ISSN: 1567-7109
- E-ISSN: 2468-1652
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oa [Leer je kinderen minder te tolereren!, Teach your children to tolerate less!]
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By
Anders Schinkel1
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: Pedagogiek, Volume 41, Issue 3, Oct 2021, p. 243 - 250
Abstract
Toleration is a person’s response, on the one hand, to something she disapproves of, and on the other hand, to her inclination to put a stop to that which she disapproves of. When people think about toleration from a pedagogical perspective, as a virtue to be cultivated, attention naturally focuses on the latter: how do we teach someone to control herself, to take the other’s perspective, et cetera; and how do we make sure someone develops ‘tolerant’ views? Discussions about this virtually always concern the same topics, however; critical reflection on the objects of (in)tolerance are lacking. When we turn our gaze outwards, we see that intolerable practices take place on a large scale (e.g. ecologically destructive practices) that we all ‘tolerate’ – because we don’t care enough. We ought to teach children to care about the right things to the right degree; and that means we need to teach them not to tolerate certain practices.
