"Understanding Suffering in Schools is essential for educators,

parents, students, and policymakers engaged in making schools

more humane and enlightening” (Mulé, F., 2022).

My e-mail: natifran2@gmail.com
 The idea that you can teach without meeting any resistance (without
suffering) relies on an idealized notion of the student.

The purpose of this presentation, while it contains description of

practice and professional debates that will be familiar to some of
you, is:
 Introduce one of the more complex and critical debates in
educational settings today, that is, the suffering in educational
contexts;
 Discuss useful and useless suffering at education;
 Present some strands of thinking about suffering;
 Bring examples about how students experience suffering in
school and how suffering can profoundly affect one’s academic
growth and development—or worse.
 There are different strands and views of
pain and suffering.
 The relationship between education and
suffering is complex and has many facets.
 Pain and suffering are mediated by cultural
and social lenses.
Suffering: some definitions
 Suffering is a paradoxical sensation, being expected and
unpredictable at the same time (LEVINAS, 2009).
 Suffering might be interpreted as pain, trauma, illness,
despair, discomfort, frustration and anxiety, among
others (CROSS, 2018).
 Suffering is one of the most “basic human experiences
that make us who we are” (MORRIS, 1991).
Suffering: positive or negative

 Useful suffering/rational suffering

 Harmful suffering/irrational/useless or dangerous

suffering.
Harmful suffering can occur for many reasons

 Assessment, management of time, pressure, expectations,

rankings, and many other institutional practices potentially
increase suffering in any formal educational environment.
 The system of good and bad marks (Examinations can generate
an enormous component of useless suffering).
 The home training of the students before they reached the school-
age.
 Discipline…
 Some final remarks...
 An important point is that teachers need to know their students, in order to intervene at
the right time and avoid imposing pain on them.
 Suffering only should be accepted in those personal moments of discovery, where the
students are confronted with their own selves. Any other kind of suffering, imposed by
a system or by another person, is inherently immoral (Levinas, 2009)
 The educational processes may be painful at times, but the reasons behind such
suffering should not be a test or a mark, but a personal struggle for knowledge. We, as
teachers and administrators, are responsible for that.
 With greater resilience and courage, grace, compassion, and
humility school leadership and teachers can alleviate student
suffering. With the increasing demands of education and its
proven promise for a better society, all children, youth, and
families must grapple with the growing cognitive and
psychological rigors of schooling; and it is vital that we make the
experience compassionate and supportive for everyone.
Thank you!!!
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