The article contends that by cultivating the disposition of pedagogical tact, it is possible to encourage an ecological renewal of educational practices. Pedagogical tact will be introduced primarily through an episode involving jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and his mentor Miles Davis, which will be interpreted as an exemplar of tactful teaching. In this episode, the main features of the contemporary debate surrounding pedagogical tact will be presented. Subsequently, it will be asserted that pedagogical tact, as demonstrated by Davis, pertains to (...) a form of relationship not only with the mentee but also with the world. Finally, the argument will be made that a form of world-centered pedagogical tact aids in overcoming the rigid distinction among teacher, learner, and world, in favor of a reciprocal and ecological interchange. (shrink)

In recent years, reflection on pedagogical tact has made a comeback in the international debate. Tact is a fundamental disposition of the educator, albeit one that is scarcely addressed in the training of teachers and educators. The question is whether it is possible to treat this pedagogical propensity as a teachable habit, and to what extent. Here we propose that tact can be understood as a teachable frame of mind of the educator by analysing tactlessness. In other words, in order (...) to become a tactful teacher, one has to pass through situations in which tact is not enacted, because the absence of tact – as Adorno proposes in his dialectical-negative perspective – becomes a condition for soliciting doubts about one’s educational action, metareflexive rethinking and finally tactful responses. (shrink)