Truth, Knowledge and Communication: Thomas Aquinas on the Mystery of Teaching

Abstract

The context in which Thomas Aquinas reflects on teaching is discussed, as are the texts in which he does so. We learn how he understands teaching from two other considerations, how he went about the task, and the pedagogical concerns that persist through his writing career. The most important source for his convictions about pedagogy is the Bible, and Jesus is ‘the most excellent of teachers’. His account of teaching is ultimately theological, then, in line with his concerns in Summa theologiae, such that creation may be understood as teaching and redemption as learning.