Love has been recognised as a significant educational force by educators such as Paulo Freire, Parker Palmer and bell hooks. This study aims to investigate the significance and power of love in teaching. Various philosophies of love from both the Eastern and Western philosophies will be examined through a critical, in-depth analysis of historical and contemporary texts. The concepts dicussed in the literature will be deconstructed and used to inform an investigation into the relationship between love and education. This thesis explores love as a way of empowering students and effecting change in educational practice from a pedagogical standpoint that teaching, as an act of love, has the potential to transform the educational experience. The findings will be used to inform further research on developing an approach to teaching from love as a way of enhancing teaching practice.
