Nonhuman Pedagogical Relations: Towards Conceptual Limits

This article considers the pedagogical relation as a relation to a nonhuman educator, wherein the educatee is a member of the Homo sapiens species. My aim is to clarify the extent to which a nonhuman‐human relation can be understood as pedagogical. The argument takes leave from the “pedagogy of relation” discourse in philosophy of education. Through the thought experiment of substituting nonhuman entities into the educator‐educatee relation in the position of educator, the anthropocentric aspect of the other/educator in a relation is probed to conceptually clarify what sort of “other” is required for the relation to be considered a pedagogical relation. The nonhuman others pondered are place , as developed by Michael Marker; forests , as theorized by Eduardo Kohn; and solitary confinement , as considered by Lisa Guenther. These three foci suggest that a nonhuman‐human relation can be considered a pedagogical relation when it is constitutive for the self and enables the self to retain a sense of continuity through a minimal awareness that endures through time. Conversely, if there is the annihilation or dissolution of the self/person, then the relation is anti‐pedagogical.