Compassion-based language education [Book Review]

Abstract

In a speech criticising the Vietnam War and celebrating the value of social justice, Marlin Luther King Jr. stated that 'True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring' (The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, 2015). By writing a book on the significance of embedding compassion in language education, Sarah Mercer seems to embrace the idea that compassion can help restructure the educational edifice. In her view, compassion is both an approach to teaching and an aspirational outcome for learners. This dual focus - teaching with compassion to create supportive classroom environments and teaching for compassion to equip learners with global skills - Is one of the most distinctive features of the book.