Embodying Deeply Held Values in Education - Seeking a More Equitable World for Both Humans and Non-Humans

Oct 15, 2026

The article argues that building a more equitable world depends on recognizing love as a cosmic force underlying human and non-human life. It contends that education often sidelines love, care, joy, and trust, limiting equity to policy debate and resource distribution rather than lived moral relationships. Using philosophical and moral insights from spiritual and historical teachers, the text explains how love expresses respect, cooperation, reciprocity, humility, and interdependence. It calls for educational practice that centers love toward others and the natural world.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Love as a foundational force for equity

Love, oneness, and education’s values

Embodying Deeply Held Values in Education: Seeking a More Equitable World for Both Humans and Non-Humans Jing Lin (林静) University of Maryland Shue-kei Joanna Mok University of Maryland Virginia Gomes University of Maryland ECNU Review of Education 2024, Vol. 7(2) 241–251 © The Author(s) 2024 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311241232429](DOI: 10.1177/20965311241232429)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311241232429)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Highlights • In this article, we contend that the bedrock of an equitable world lies in the profound recognition of love as the fundamental force permeating the cosmos. • We believe that love is built into the essence of who we are. • We posit that genuine progress toward an equitable world is elusive unless we place love, both for one another and for the natural world, at the core of our educational endeavors. Keywords Embodied practices, heart and spirit, love and equity, love as a cosmic force Date received: 1 October 2023; accepted: 15 November 2023 Corresponding author: Jing Lin, Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education, College of Education, 3214 Benjamin Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Email: [jinglin@umd.edu](jinglin@umd.edu) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the ﬁght to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have deﬁned it. (Orr, 2004, p. 12) Introduction Improving education to create a more equitable world is a lofty vision and a dream shared by many people. However, we—researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in education—seldom discuss the deeply held values that would make such an equitable world possible. In this article, we contend that the bedrock of an equitable world lies in the profound recognition of love as the fundamental force permeating the cosmos. This idea resonates with the philosophical and moral insights of important spiritual teachers, both historical and contemporary, such as Confucius, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (King, 1999; Lin, 2006, 2018) . They teach us that love is the energy that sustains the universe, making us truly human. We believe that love is built into the essence ofwho we are. We are born with the capacity and need for love. During the nascent stages of human life, infants are wholly reliant on the affection and care provided by others for their sustenance and development; humans in their infancy would not survive without the care and love of others. Moreover, extending our gaze beyond humanity, we see that love serves as the vital energy propelling the diverse spectrum of life forms inhabiting our planet (Bekoff, 2007) . For example, elephants walk in a group with their young in the center being protected by the adult elephants in the outer ring. This exempliﬁes the profound sense of care and compassion ingrained in nature’s design (Moss, 2000) . Likewise, when humans extend their attention and care to the well-being of plants, these organisms respond with

FAQs

What does the article identify as the foundation of an equitable world?

It argues that the bedrock of an equitable world is the profound recognition of love as a fundamental force permeating the cosmos.

Why does the article criticize how contemporary education currently treats love?

It states that education often relegates love, care, joy, and trust to the periphery, leaving equity as abstract rhetoric focused on resources and access.

How does the article connect love to how the universe functions?

It explains that love manifests through virtues like respect and interdependence, which are presented as principles that maintain harmony and unity in the cosmos.

Oct 15, 2026

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