The Declination and Transformative Power of Social Love in Educational Contexts: Schools That Educate for Fraternity

Numerous voices, including the UN Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goal 4, call for a
paradigm shift in education to include the capacity for sustainable coexistence. Over the past three
decades, several frameworks for 'global competence' have been developed, and the first
international survey in this area was conducted in 2018. Yet, the challenge remains in translating
these statements of intent into concrete outcomes. This contribution analyses interviews from
schools across different regions of the world that aim at educating for fraternity by putting social
love at the centre, from the construction of an educating community which includes all school actors
as well as the families, to the education of the students as persons able of empathy and care. By
pinpointing the aspects these schools have in common, the analysis helps to clarify how the
dimensions of social love are articulated and take shape in an educational context. It also highlights
how education can benefit from the potential for individual and social transformation inherent in
social love and multiply it by generating a dynamic of reciprocity.