ABSTRACT
Love binds us to the abode of life and everything in it we call good or beautiful. Those who feel the call to teach, who sense teaching is a profoundly meaningful part of their life, have a passion for teaching. Exactly what that passion is, though, they often cannot name. We think they are in love; they are in love with some aspect of teaching; perhaps they are in love with everything about it. The good that comes of connecting with students and transforming their lives attracts many people, the creative possibilities of teaching appeal to others, while some respond to the allure of the beauty found in their subject matter. The promise of these possibilities is immense; not all of them are lovely, however, because there are many corruptions of love in teaching, as elsewhere. The papers comprising our collection strive to reveal the wonder while exposing the distortions of love in teaching and learning. Institutional constraints silence the discourse of passion and love in the public realm of teaching and learning. This collection seeks to end the silence by speaking loudly in public about what many think should only be spoken about softly in private.
