Pedagogy of Tenderness
Tenderness as a political and pedagogical act. Born in Latin America from working with children in contexts of exclusion.
What is it?
The pedagogy of tenderness is a proposal born in Latin America, developed by Alejandro Cussianovich from his work with working children, adolescents (NATs) in Peru. Its premise is that tenderness is not a soft or romantic feeling: it is a political act. Being tender in a context of violence is an act of resistance. Educating with tenderness is recognizing the dignity of the other.
Unlike Noddings' 'pedagogy of care' (individual ethics of care), the pedagogy of tenderness is collective and political. It is not only about the teacher caring for the student, but about building a culture where tenderness is a form of social relationship. Cussianovich defines it as 'the capacity to welcome the other without conditions, to recognize them as a subject of rights and protagonist of their own history'.
The approach is deeply connected with child agency: children are not objects of passive protection, but subjects with voice, decision-making capacity, and the right to participate. This challenges both the authoritarian and the overprotective teacher. Tenderness empowers, it does not infantilize.
Tenderness is the most radical expression of respect. It is recognizing in the other someone who deserves to be treated with absolute dignity.
— Alejandro CussianovichWhat does it look like in class?
In a school in Villa El Salvador (Lima), students participate in a weekly assembly where they decide on real aspects of school life: recess schedules, use of the yard, community projects. The teacher facilitates, does not decide. Children exercise real agency, not simulated.
The teacher starts each class with a welcoming ritual: looks each student in the eyes, greets them by name, and asks something personal. When a student arrives upset, they do not send them to their seat — they kneel to their height and give them a moment. Tenderness is a concrete gesture, not a speech.
In a project on children's rights, students from a school in Bogotá interview working children from the neighboring market. Not as objects of study, but as peers with valuable experience. The project culminates in a public letter to the mayor. Tenderness translates into action for justice.
A teacher in Cochabamba (Bolivia) works with students who are children of miners. Instead of victimizing them, they ask them to teach the class what they know about minerals, extraction processes, and the earth. The student's knowledge — born from their context — is valued as legitimate knowledge. That is epistemic tenderness.
Signs it works
- Students know themselves as subjects of rights — they speak of their rights naturally and assert them respectfully
- The classroom is a space where one can be vulnerable without it being used against anyone
- Students participate in real decisions, not in simulations of participation
- The teacher recognizes and values the knowledge students bring from their context, family, and community
- Conflicts are addressed from connection and recognition, not from power or punishment
Common mistakes
Confusing tenderness with overprotection — Cussianovich's tenderness is demanding, not indulgent
Romanticizing poverty or child labor — tenderness does not deny injustice, it confronts it
Reducing child agency to voting on trivial activities — real agency involves genuine decision-making power
Thinking tenderness is only for vulnerable children — every person needs to be recognized and welcomed
Key thinkers
Peruvian educator, founder of the NATs (Working Children and Adolescents) movement. Principal theorist of the pedagogy of tenderness. His work at IFEJANT (Training Institute for Educators of Young, Adolescent, and Working Children) is a reference throughout Latin America.
German sociologist based in Latin America. Has researched and documented child agency and the rights of working children. Co-author with Cussianovich of several key texts.
Peruvian educator who has brought the pedagogy of tenderness to formal schools. Her work shows how the approach functions beyond contexts of exclusion, in any classroom.
Dive deeper
The foundational text of the approach in video format. Cussianovich develops tenderness as a political and pedagogical category from his experience with NATs in Peru.
ESWebsiteIFEJANT — Educator Training InstituteInstitute founded by Cussianovich in Lima. Training educators in child agency and the pedagogy of tenderness. Regional reference.
PDFChild Agency — Manfred LiebelLiebel's research on working children's movements in Latin America and the concept of child agency as a pedagogical practice.
ESPDFEssay on the Pedagogy of Tenderness — Cussianovich (CLACSO)Cussianovich's texts available in CLACSO's digital library. Free access to articles and essays on tenderness, childhood, and rights.
ESPDFThe Pedagogy of Tenderness — Christine SchmalenbachAcademic article from the University of Hamburg analyzing the pedagogy of tenderness as a struggle for dignity and life through educational action.
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